My Quirkless Hero!
by Young Napoleon22
Summary: In the depths of despair a young Izuku is given the reassurance he needs to believe that, even without a quirk, anyone can still become a great hero. Maybe even the best. (TITLE SUBJECT TO CHANGE) Rating will eventually go up. This is a serious-toned story.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: Okay, so I'm about to attempt a My Hero fanfic. I've got 3 other stories on this site in the works already(one of which is a little painful to admit to since it's rife with amateur foolishness), but I just finished season 2 of My Hero and I wanted to give it a shot.**_

 _ **I personally love the series as I've seen it, and think Deku is a refreshing main character in this day and age of manga/anime, but in my story he will NOT have a quirk. The whole point of this story is to show that ANYONE can be a hero; even if they don't have powers.**_

 _ **As I explain in my three other main stories(one for Naruto, one for DBZ, and one for ATLA) I am not much for comedy. I want everyone going into this to understand that my story will have a fairly serious tone to it; even Izuku's trademark boyishness won't really be present. However, I explain this through use of his determination to become a hero. After all, with no quirk Izuku won't have time for silliness. The name Deku will still be used though by Bakugo and possibly his love interest later, but I'm not sure if I'm gonna make it his hero name.**_

 _ **Before anyone comments about it in the reviews, yes, I do make certain references to the animated Batman film 'Son of Batman' through use of the motto he picks to adopt but he will not actually become Batman. While my Izuku will be more serious, it will not be to the degree of Bruce Wayne; more than anything it'll lean more towards Robin from the Teen Titan's series.**_

 _ **Anyway, I really hope people enjoy my take on the series.**_

 _ **My Quirkless Hero (Title subject to change should a better one come along)**_

 _ **Ch. 1- Conviction!**_

" _I'm sorry Mrs. Midoriya, but, it looks as if young Izuku does not have a quirk...nor I fear will he ever."_

Those words echoed around inside the head of the young Izuku Midoriya as he sat, dejected, in front of his computer screen. The young kindergartner had just returned home from seeing the doctor with his mother and, after a series of tests followed by a single x-ray session, learned he was part of the twenty percent of people around the world to be born without a quirk.

Twenty percent; one in every fivepeople. And both of his parents had quirks!

As the young Izuku sat there his body wracked with uncontrollable sobs. His shoulders shook while his throat swallowed heaves of despair. The boy's knuckles were bone-white as they crumpled the leg of his shorts, and tears left tracks down his freckled cheeks.

And yet, despite all this, when his mother Inko came in to check on her unusually quiet child she found the biggest smile plastered on her son's face.

This confusion gave way to a morose understanding when her eyes found Izuku's monitor. There, expanded to full-screen, was the paused video of her son's idol. All Might; the greatest hero in the world, and renowned Symbol of Peace. Inko knew the video well, as Izuku insisted on watching it at least once every morning before heading to school, and once before bed every night.

Looking at the paused clip of the hero's first appearance Iuku's mother took notice that the man was smiling. It was wide, and showed off all the muscle-bound blonde's white teeth. It was full of confidence and lacked any sort of fear...it was a smile Inko realized her grief-stricken son was trying his best to emulate. Seeing her son so broken by the news that he wouldn't be able to follow in his idol's footsteps caused the housewife to have her own breakdown. Tears soon welled in her own forest-green eyes, and as they began to spill onto her face Inko dropped to her knees and wrapped her son in a fierce hug.

"Oh, Izuku, I'm so sorry."

The words tumbled from her lips without a second thought, but their meaning was not what others would expect. Inko Midoriya wasn't apologizing for her son's crushed dream; the apology was for the part Inko herself believed _she_ played in Izuku's lack of a quirk. It was well known that the more powerful a quirk was, the higher chance there was for any offspring to manifest their own impressive power; sometimes even genetically inheriting their parents quirk. And while Izuku's estranged father was capable of breathing fire, Inko only held the power to attract small objects to her person.

Wracking with sobs of her own, Inko fumbled out another apology, "I-If only I'd h-had a stronger quirk. Oh, I-Izuku, I'm so sorry honey."

Pressed to his mothers heaving chest, Izuku Midoriya's tormented spirit only heard his mother apologize for his destroyed dreams. The pain only letting him hear about how with no quirk he would never become a hero; he would never be like All Might.

In another universe this pain would leave young Izuku silent and whimpering. It would halt the boy for ten long years, but then lead him to become the heir to a power known as One for All...but that was not this universe. Instead, in a desperate act for reassurance, Izuku Midoriya managed to get a single question past his choked sobs that would change his life forever.

"M-Mommy...e-even without a quirk, c-can I still be a...can I still be a hero?"

In the tense silence that followed, Izuku's whole world stopped. What felt like an eternity for the wild-haired child was really only seconds, but finally, his mother answered with a single word.

"...Yes."

Inko honestly wasn't sure if her answer was the right one but, when her son tightened his hold on her and she saw his watery smile edged with a fragile hope, she didn't dare say anymore. Instead she would keep her doubts silent, while outwardly cheering her son on. In her mind it was the least she could do after all.

Four years later, Izuku sat in his schools library during his class's lunch period and was finishing the third news report on a hero of in the Shizuoka Prefecture. He had lied to his teacher, claiming a need to use the bathroom, but the young Izuku had decided any punishment was worth the knowledge gained. The last video had been about the Flame Hero: Endeavor. Endeavor was ranked as the second-greatest hero in the world, bested only by All Might, and as his name suggested he had the power to manipulate fire itself.

Izuku watched as the man used his quirk to not only deal powerful offensive blows, but augment his physical capabilities by creating jet-streams of fire to increase his speed and maneuverability. On top of that, the youngest Midoriya saw that Endeavor was also in prime physical condition as well. Meaning that, while the man did indeed prioritize his quirk in battle, he made sure his body could handle the strain of such perilous heroics.

And while Izuku thought the world revolved around All Might, he could not ignore the greatness of the many other heroes that found their way onto the scene with each newscast. So he studied them all; from Endeavor down to Desutegero, a hero with the simple power of super-human strength.

The boy's studies didn't stop once he got home however. Once his homework for the night was finished, Izuku returned to the world of the internet and streamed hours worth of news footage centered around the various heroes of the world. When his mother brought him dinner she found her son's walls littered with notes about those crusaders and their quirks; with a pin-board dedicated to the top five heroes specifically. Inko would look on those sheets of handwritten paper with a mix of hope as well as sadness.

The hope that, through his studies Izuku would find a way to achieve his dream, and the sadness that it would instead lead to the destruction of her son's fragile hope. What if Izuku felt he could never compete with those men and women with superpowers? Inko hated to admit it too, but a small part of her that she kept hidden away, hoped for such a thing. The thought of her son going out there, and either getting hurt or even killed, terrified the protective mother in Inko.

But then she would walk over, a tray laden with a bowl of rice and miso soup in her hands, and she'd see the intense focus on Izuku's face; the likes of which she'd never thought possible for one so young. And Inko just lost all thought of trying to talk her son out of being a hero. She just couldn't find it in her heart to destroy her son's dreams, to bring about the same pain the doctor had when he told Izuku he would never have a quirk.

Instead, she would simply set the boy's dinner down next to him and ask, "So Izuku, who are you studying tonight?"

Then, without looking away from his notes, the determined young kindergartner would answer. "I saw this story on Best Jeanist, and how he used his quirk _Fiber Master_ to trip up these bank robbers in the Okayama Prefecture. That's his hometown, so he tends to make regular visits there from his office in Tokyo."

This news surprised Inko, as Okayama was at least seven hours from Tokyo, but when she questioned Izuku about the distance the woman received another shock at his answer.

"Oh, well Best Jeanist has an agency of sidekicks. They're hand-picked by Jeanist to work below him, and are left to patrol in his place when he's away. He actually has the new rookie, Toguro, working for him; but even then, there's still heroes like Endeavor or Gunhead to help protect the city."

Izuku's response was detailed, and carefully spoken. There was a tint of admiration in his tone too, but Inko noticed that her son did not ooze hero worship like he had in the past. At just eight years old, Inko could honestly say her son was more mature than even some of her own coworkers. But there _was_ something about her son's answer that was missing...

"And All Might's protecting the city too, right?"

The response came slower this time, and Inko could see that her son was taking longer to decide how to answer, but when he finally did Izuku's voice was devoid of the usual flare that came when talking about his famous idol. "Yeah, sometimes, but lately All Might hasn't been around much. He shows up sometimes, but there are days where no one sees him."

A hum of curiosity came before Inko's own reply, "Well, maybe he's saving someone far out-land from here. After all, you don't get to be the number one hero for only saving one city, right?"

"Yeah, you're probably right mom."

Inko could tell from the resignation in his voice that Izuku didn't believe her. But what could she do to balm her son's emotional wound? It's not as if she ad the hero's number, and she could just call him and ask him where he was. So instead, she turned the conversation in a direction she knew always helped cheer her son up.

"Besides, I'm sure once you become just as great a hero you'll know all about what that's like. And speaking of, I've got those applications you asked for, the ones for the dojos around town. You still wanted those, right?"

Izuku's eyes immediately lit up in sheer delight, and a smile bloomed over his face as he spun around in his chair to both grab the small stack of papers, as well as hug his mother. "Yes! Thank you mom, this is exactly what I need to take the first step in becoming a hero. I mean, who's ever heard of a hero who can't fight? Oh man, this is gonna be great!"

Inko felt her own heart's weighted guilt left just a little at seeing her son so happy. She had promised to stop by the various martial arts schools around their town after work, and pick up applications so her son could choose which ones to start with. Inko had promised her son two professional classes, and had offered the idea of buying dvd's to help him learn the styles he wouldn't be taking lessons for. Needless to say, Izuku was thrilled with her idea, and for a moment Inko could see the kid in him again.

 _ **xXx**_

Izuku Midoriya, better known as Deku by his classmates, stared at the busted lip and harsh purple bruise that marred his freckled face. The ten-year-old schoolboy let his forest-green eyes look on the two shots he'd taken at school that day for a second longer, before he fought through the pain and smiled.

In a five-on-one fist fight, coming out of it with only a black eye and bloody lip were cause for celebration. Especially since he'd almost _won_. His martial arts lessons were indeed paying off.

Izuku was nothing if not a dedicated student, but even at the age of ten he was smart enough to know he was far from invincible. His lessons in Muay Thai and Jujitsu were coming along a little faster than Karate or the American art of Boxing, but even so, against Bakugou's _Explosion_ quirk Izuku always found himself hard-pressed to succeed. The quirkless youth still felt proud of besting the rest of his childhood friend's goons though; even if their teacher interrupted the main event between Izuku and the bullying blonde.

Cleaning away the blood from his mouth, and making sure to staunch the bleeding before exiting the bathroom, Izuku stopped in his tracks when he came face-to-face with his upset mother. With her guilt not eating at her, Inko Midoriya had retained her youthful appearance even in her early thirties. The only true sign of her aging was the tired look she often came home from work with, which was accented by a furrowed brow due to dealing with all manners of customers.

But today, her brow was netted in worry rather than annoyance. And Izuku could only think of one reason why that would be...

"I got a call from school today Izuku, something about you getting into a fight and beating up four other boys. Judging by that nice new bruise you've got I can only guess the principal was telling me the truth. So, rather than try and come up with some crazy story, how about you just tell me what happened?"

It wasn't hard to hear the pure exhaustion in his mother's voice, and knowing he was once again the cause for her distress caused a guilty Izuku to flinch. This was only his first fight this school year, but he'd been bullied ever since everyone learned he was quirkless. _'Figures the first time I choose to really fight back is the day anyone decides to call my mother,'_ the dark-haired youth thought with a sigh.

"Well, mom, first I just wanna say that I didn't 'beat up' four other boys. I was getting picked on by Ka-Bakugou and his goons again, and this time I just decided to fight back." Izuku had to force himself not to reflexively call the blonde by his childhood nickname, as they were no longer friends, before haltingly continuing his story.

"I-I used my training on them, but Bakugou's quirk is powerful. He used it to stun me before landing a couple of hits; I guess his flash grenade caught the teacher's attention, because just as I managed to block Bakugou's next hit we were being pulled apart." Seeing his mothers face, Izuku made an attempt at lightening the mood by shrugging and offering, "B-But hey, at least your money's not going to w-waste...right?"

The disappointed look he got wasn't what the fumbling schoolboy was hoping for, and had Izuku dropping his head in submission as he muttered out an apology.

Inko looked at her son for a moment in sadness before sighing. "Honey, I'm not paying those instructors to teach you how to beat up your classmates; one of which used to be your best friend. And while I have a pretty good idea why you two don't talk anymore, that doesn't excuse _your_ behavior. How can you want to be a hero, but then turn around and fight those you say you want to protect? I want you, right now, to _promise_ me that I'll not be getting another phone call like the one I got today from school. Because if I do, you can say goodbye to your lessons, and I'll be forced to confiscate the gear you just received in the mail today."

Izuku was just about to tell his mother he didn't get any of his new gear yet when he watched her reach behind the couch and pull out an armful of shipping boxes. The ten-year-old's dark-green eyes lit up with excitement, but the fire was quickly dowsed when he remembered his mothers warning.

Looking from the packages, to his mother, Izuku could clearly see she was completely serious.

As if reading her son's thoughts, Inko Midoriya's own eyes hardened with conviction as she firmly repeated herself. "I mean it, Izuku Midoriya, I want your word that you'll learn how to control yourself. What is having those skills, if you don't show the proper discipline to know when to use them? All today did was make you look like another bully; and I for one don't consider a bully to be very heroic."

Izuku's mother's words stung. Yet the young schoolboy knew she was right; his actions had been anything but heroic. They had been shameful, as had his pride in delivering what he now realized was vengeance rather than justice. And so, it was with a remorseful look in his eye that Izuku bowed deep at the waist, and both apologized as well as recited his promise to his mother.

Later that night, long after dinner and his mother had gone to bed, Izuku stayed up and was going through his new list of equipment. Of the few new gadgets he'd recently acquired though, his favorites were no doubt the tonfa he'd saved up for. Hours of walking dogs, and riding his bike to garden the homes of the elderly, had earned him a brand new set of wooden tonfa.

Even at the young age of ten, Izuku proved in class to be a well educated and easily taught student. He payed attention, and if he didn't understand something he made sure to research the topic and study it until he did. So dedicated was he to becoming the worlds first quirkless hero. This dedication and studious nature lead the young boy many called Deku to take notice of his short reach; something that, while it would increase with age, would never be as long as many of the Pro Heroes. And so, to make up for this both in close _and_ long-range combat, Izuku devised that he could use support material.

Or, as they were better called by their creators, _gadgets_.

Gadgets came in many different forms; from jet-packs to speed-shoes, and were quickly becoming staples to the less powerful heroes. However, Izuku soon found there was a snag in his plan after learning of these delightful little tools...they were exceedingly expensive!

Even the throwing disks he'd purchased alongside his tonfa, which had the added bonus to be linked to return to his gloves, had taken him almost a month to afford; and he'd only bought two.

However this didn't stop Izuku from believing his goal was possible, it just meant he would need to either find a better way to make money, or find an aspiring Support Class student at U.A. who'd be willing to aid him in his quest. Yes, becoming a great hero without any fancy quirk would be difficult, but Izuku Midoriya was bound and determined to do it!

And yet, as he lay in bed that same night readying to fall asleep, his mothers scolding played over in his mind again. His thoughts then turned to his own realization upon the end of the lecture, and how he chose to use them as his own personal hero code.

 _'Justice, not vengeance,'_ Izuku thought before finally falling into his dreams.

 _ **xXx**_

At the age of fourteen Izuku Midoriya knew that, if they were caught, both he and Mr. Urameshi would get into trouble; as no one under the age of 15 was allowed to be employed on a payroll. But Izuku had formed a friendship with the retired detective-turned-grocery owner during his days of doing yard work, and when he'd told the man about his dream Mr. Urameshi was all too willing to risk the fines that would come with hiring the then thirteen-year-old Izuku.

Now, after a little less than a year, Izuku stood in front of his boss's grocery store finishing up sweeping away the dirt for the afternoon. On days he didn't have school Izuku was allowed to work earlier, and longer, in the day. However, this day in particular he informed Mr. Urameshi that his time at the store was at an end. With the U.A. entrance exams ten months away, Izuku explained that he wanted to spend as much time as possible preparing. Thankfully, the retired detective was understanding, and had handed over the young teen's last envelope of payment. One that, as he opened it to again marvel at the sight of his dreams in paper form, Izuku noticed that there were twice as many bills inside than normal.

"M-Mr. Urameshi, t-this is a whole two extra weeks of payment. Please, I appreciate the gesture, b-but I could never-"

"Take it," Mr. Urameshi laughingly halted the boy's oncoming refusal. Then, the elderly man's face took on a more serious note than Izuku had ever seen as he elaborated. "I know it's a lot, young Midoriya, but please take this money and use it to accomplish your dream. In all my years I have never seen one so young with the same fire that I see everyday in your eyes. There are many, _too_ many in my opinion, heroes in this world...but I hardly ever see one who does the job for the right reasons. For many of them its about the money, or the recognition, but I can see it clear as the sun shines in the sky that _you_ young Midoriya truly wish to be a hero for the pure desire to help those in need.

That's why I didn't laugh at you all those years ago when you showed up at my doorstep, sweaty and out of breath from the bike ride over, asking if I needed help with my lawn. It's why _I_ came to you with the offer of a job here at my grocery store the day you turned thirteen...and it's also why I'm okay with giving you this envelope today. So please, as one quirkless man to another, I ask that you take that money and show the rest of the world that we quirkless folks still have a say in what goes on in this world."

Green met with black as Izuku stared into the pleading, but determined eyes of his former employer and friend. It was with a hesitant nod that Izuku silently accepted the large wad of bills, before firmly shaking hands with Mr. Urameshi.

What neither of them knew was that this would be the last conversation the two would ever have.

It was the next morning, as he was just finishing getting ready to go out and begin his training, that Izuku found his mother sitting on their couch with a pained expression on her face. She held a hand up to her mouth in horror, while her other held the remote to the television. Being an avid watcher of the news, Izuku could only assume something bad had happened the night before; yet nothing he imagined hurt as bad as the reality that met him when he himself walked over to see what it was.

It took seconds for Izuku to work through the headline, and when he did the young teen's body dropped like a lead weight onto the couch. From his new seat beside his mother Izuku re-read the headline a second time, as if hoping he'd read it wrong. But when nothing changed the youngest Midoriya was forced to accept the truth: Mr. Urameshi was dead.

Izuku took the remote from his mother and turned off the mute button.

" _It seems that sometime around 2:30AM the grocery store owned my local resident Yusuke Urameshi was robbed by a couple members of the Purple Dragon gang; officers know this by the graffiti tagged along the inner walls of the sacked establishment. The criminals made off with a little over_ ¥ 200,000 _and unfortunately one used their quirk to end the former detectives life; I'm being told the quirk used is called_ _ **Spike**_ _, which fits with the way Mr. Urameshi was found run through with one a few meters long._

 _Police are avid in their pursuit of these criminals, as Yusuke was a long-standing member of the force for the majority of his life, and assure us that the men who did this will indeed be caught. Unfortunately, there has been no word from the various hero agencies about who among them will be helping with the case, I can only assume they are all-"_

The man on the screen was gone in an instant as Izuku angrily smashed the power button for the remote, before chucking it onto the coffee table with a scoff. Beside him, the teen's mother looked at him with a look of both worry as well as confusion.

"Izuku, honey, I know you're upset but I'm sure they'll catch the villains responsible-"

"No," the angry teen cut his mother off. "They won't; because if they really meant that those scum wouldn't have been on the street in the first place. I'm not saying there's never going to be a crime committed ever again, but the Purple Dragons are _organized_ crime. They're a structured organism with their own hierarchy...if someone was really looking into this they'd be disbanded by now."

Inko reached over to take Izuku's hand before trying to speak with her son again. "I understand your anger dear, but you of all people should understand that there are times when a hero just isn't going to be there to help. It's a terrible thought, what with the world we live in now, but it is still the truth...not even All Might-"

"It didn't have to be All Might mom!" Izuku's outburst was punctuated by his ripping out of his mother's hold, and shooting to his feet as he raised his voice. "I'm not the same blind kid I was when I was four years old, I know there are other heroes out there besides All Might; and _that's_ what's making me so mad! How could there not have been a single hero out last night? The only explanation I can find is that, to them, the robbery of a little corner grocery store wasn't going to be enough glory for them. No cameras, no heroics...just like Mr. Urameshi said."

Izuku's mother tried again to reach for her son's hand in an effort to console him, but the teen's fury would not be quelled, and with that heavy emotion weighing down his every step Izuku stomped his way out of the apartment before taking off in a run to reach the gym.

It wasn't until he was drenched in sweat and his muscles felt like they'd been torn apart that Izuku allowed himself to call it quits. The dark-haired teen had long since stripped away his sleeveless shirt, and stumbled through the automatic doors in just his sweatpants and large sneakers. Checking the sun, Izuku guessed it was around four in the afternoon. Just enough time to go grab an after-workout snack before going home to dinner. Tomorrow was weapon training, and Izuku knew he would need to be well rested for that.

However, all thoughts of rest or exhaustion were washed away when Izuku noticed a pair of teens exiting the convenient store he was just about to pass. While the hero-in-training normally wouldn't acknowledge the rowdy twosome, the purple dragon head peeking out from under the taller one's long sleeve caught his attention.

Izuku felt the rage from that morning burning in his chest again. It didn't matter whether or not the two gang members in front of him were the same responsible for Mr. Urameshi's murder; all that Izuku Midoriya could see was the tattoo. Making sure not to draw attention to himself, the teen made a point to make it look as if he'd stopped to check his phone. Once he was sure the two thugs hadn't suspected him, Izuku waited until the other teen's had their backs to him before capturing a picture of them with his camera. With this, the dark-haired youth figured if he lost sight of them they would be easier to find again later, and so he began to follow them.

It was a long walk, to be sure, but Izuku quickly realized that the pair he was following were more than likely new recruits. As he followed them Izuku was able to see the shorter of the two periodically check his phone, before looking at the street they were on, and then directing them with a jerk of his head. Aside from that, Izuku's dark-green eyes easily caught the way neither of them had noticed they were being followed; so concerned were they with not getting lost. But that was just fine with the shirtless teen, because it would make it that much easier to find out where the rest of their filthy hive called home.

Izuku's lucky break ran out though when he followed the pair of Purple Dragons out of the heavily populated city street, and into the less dense back lots of the slums. With not as many people to hide behind, the teenage thugs quickly took notice of the lone figure trailing behind them; and try as they might not to show it, Izuku easily spotted their trepidation. Yet he couldn't blame the two for their apprehension, as even at only fourteen and standing no taller than 5'5, Izuku's muscular frame cut an imposing figure to those who either didn't have a powerful quirk or just weren't confident in their own physical power...two things both of these other boys seemed to be lacking.

Their fear got the better of them a moment later, when they spontaneously broke out into a run. Izuku reacted instantly, his anger from that morning's newscast breathing new life into his tired muscles, and gave chase.

The chase would have been short, of that Izuku had no doubt, but one of the boys revealed himself to hold a quirk that allowed him to teleport himself five feet in front of himself. This bode well for the taller thug, but Izuku's keen eye noticed that it did nothing to help the shorter boy; the act possibly needing too much concentration in the heat of the moment, Izuku guessed.

Whatever the reason for the tall red-head's abandonment of his fellow Dragon, Izuku allowed himself to be content with getting his hands on just one of them. It was with a fierce, full-body tackle that Izuku brought down the stubby, purple-haired teen that had lagged behind. However, the moment the two met the ground, Izuku was greeted by a startling surprise.

"Get off!" A long spike accompanied the startled youth's cry of distress, one that matched the image Izuku had seen on the news, and one that sliced through the air before cutting along the still-shirtless teen's cheek. Both boys lay on the dusty, dirt-paved back road; shocked dark-green locking with terrified onyx-black.

And then the other boy moved.

In a mad scramble of his limbs, the Purple Dragon recruit stumbled to his feet before backpedaling away from the boy who'd tackled him. Once he felt he was far enough away, the disheveled punk put up his hands in a feeble attempt at a fighting stance.

Izuku's wide eyes never left the spike that the other boy had broken off, and now held like a sword in his trembling hands. Even as he slowly got to his own feet, and dusted off his broad shoulders, Izuku Midoriya's expression of shock wavered only once...and then it was only to turn into a face of pure rage.

"It was you."

Momiji Sayaja flinched, knowing exactly what the teen standing across from him was talking about; he was the only member of the gang with the _Spike_ quirk. However, seeing that his opponent hadn't shown off any sort of powerful quirk, the Purple Dragon member attempted to bluff his way out of a fight.

"Y-Yeah, I robbed that old man last night, w-what about it? If you wanna f-fight about it I should w-warn you, my p-partner went on ahead to get h-help; when the rest of the g-gang gets here, y-you'll be sorry for messing with a P-Purple Dragon."

If there was any response to his threat the purple-haired teen was expecting, laughter wasn't one of them.

Izuku's chuckle soon turned into a scoff of disgust however, and soon he was popping his knuckles in preparation for a fight. "Yeah, right, I'm sure Hun is just jumping out of his seat to come save a little, know-nothing grunt like _you_." Dark-green eyes noticed the way saying the gang leader's name caused the other teen to flinch, and this only amused Izuku more. "What, you really don't think anyone paying attention doesn't already know who your leader is? Just because no one's pinned him for anything yet doesn't mean everyone doesn't already know what he's done."

Momiji stomped his foot in denial before crying out, "What do you know!? The Purple Dragons _will_ come for me; we stick together, we're a family!"

"If you were really so close, don't you think your buddy would have stayed to help you? I mean, that is what family does, right? But then maybe I'm wrong...in that case, I hope they won't mind paying your hospital bills for you."

With that Izuku was done talking. The green-haired hero-in-training pushed off with his back foot and rushed the clearly shaken gang member in front of him. With a speed not found in normal boys his age, Izuku closed in fast and was almost instantly in the other boy's guard.

Momiji reacted in fear, stumbling back in fright at how fast his opponent was the purple-haired teen made a crazed noise in his throat before slashing downward with his spike.

Izuku easily blocked the strike with his forearm, and then made swift work of disarming the villain in front of him. The spike clattered to dirt noisily, but Izuku ignored it in favor of using his foot to knock the gang member off balance and set him up to be put into an RNC. The scuffle was over in seconds, but Izuku wasn't satisfied yet. Twisting their bodies around, the quirkless teen threw his opponent to the ground before reaching down to toss him his weapon.

"Get up! You don't get to get away that easy; not after what you did to Mr. Urameshi!"

Down in the dirt Momiji Sayaja coughed and sputtered as he attempted to work air back into his lungs. Reaching up with one of his hands, the frightened teen rubbed at his bruised neck before looking over at his spike-spear that had been thrown to him.

In another desperate move, the young gang member quickly produced a hail of spikes that he shot from the palms of his hands. These were each about the size of a nail, and moved at a rapid speed. The shrapnel-like firing was merely a diversion though, as Momiji quickly cut it off and used that brief moment to lunge for his fallen spear.

With deliberate intent the stout teen hurled his self-made weapon at Izuku's heart; the freckled teen having jumped to the side in an effort to avoid being pelted by his opponent's rapid fire. However, even in mid-air the green-haired youth proved to have supreme reflexes. With what looked like practiced ease, the boy known as Deku deftly spun around the thrown weapon, before plucking it from its flight and turning his dodge into a set up for a counter throw.

That throw was thwarted though, and turned into a parry, when Izuku saw that his foe had created a second spear and was attempting to run him through with it while he was still airborne.

After avoiding such a dangerous blow Izuku struck out quick with his left foot in a viscous roundhouse kick. The blow struck true against the side of the other boy's face, and the force of attack had the young Purple Dragon dropping like a sack of potatoes.

Coming down from his hang time, Izuku took a moment to look down at the scum he'd just knocked unconscious. As her stared however the young hero-in-training began to feel that familiar rage from that morning begin to build again. It was like a volcano, simmering beneath the surface, but before long it evolved into a bubbling and burning heat. The raw emotions rushed through Izuku's body like a violent river and in a brief moment of rapture, the seething young fighter raised his stolen weapon in preparation to impale the downed criminal at his feet.

But just as the muscles in his arm tensed to bring down the final blow, Izuku remembered both the vocal promise he'd made to his mother as well as the silent one to himself.

Justice, not vengeance.

In that instant Izuku felt all his anger, all his burning rage, leave him. His body went slack; like a puppet without strings, and he dropped the makeshift spear in his limp fingers. The weapon clattered again to the floor, this time joined by the one that Izuku's opponent had attempted to use to run him through, and in his almost comatose-like state the victorious teen sank to his knees along with them.

He had almost killed someone.

This revelation made the youngest Midoriya sick, and only through knowing that he hadn't actually succeeded kept the young man from letting go of his stomach. And yet, the fact remained...and it frightened Izuku.

Years ago, after his skirmish with Bakugo, Izuku realized that he and the blonde bully shared a very similar facet to their personality's. It was a sort of drive; one that demanded success, and had a thirst for victory no matter the cost. However, where Izuku noticed his former friend used this to an almost villainous advantage, the freckled teen found himself fearful of that side of himself. Because while unleashing that part of his personality seemed to grant him greater strength, the current evidence proved that falling too far was indeed dangerous. He just couldn't control it enough.

 _'I was lucky this time,'_ the Izuku thought breathlessly to himself. _'But there's no guarantee that memory will reach me a second time; it'd be best if I kept that part of me in check, at least until I've gotten a better hold of it.'_

It was with this last thought that a trembling Izuku pulled his cellphone from his pocket, and used his shaking fingers to dial 911.

The police arrived a few minutes later, along with Izuku's mother, and the quirkless teen watched in somber silence as the murderer of his friend was carted off. And while that darker part of him raged at seeing the scum still breathing, Izuku was able to drown it out with the warm feeling he got when he looked into his mother's proud smile.

So, this is what it felt like to be a hero?

 _ **xXx**_

Ten months came and went, and before the Midoriya family knew it the day of for the U.A. entrance exams had arrived.

Inside his room Izuku was finishing getting dressed when his mother walked in. Upon seeing her son, Inko couldn't keep the gasp of shock from escaping past her lips. Had she not watched him leave for training everyday for the last ten months, the teen's mother never would have imagined that the boy standing in front of her was the same little four-year-old she had cradled in her arms all those years ago.

Izuku was dressed in a fitted, white tee with his hands snugly covered with finger-less gloves. Around the teen's waste was a belt similar to the ones Inko had seen worn by police officers, only with several more compartments. There was a large buckle in the front that held it locked in place, and that helped keep up the young man's dark-blue pants from falling. These pants also held various pockets, and trailed down to where they were stuffed into a pair of black, steel-toed boots. And while still only standing at 5'5, Izuku's mother was sure his muscled physique would be more than enough to ward off anyone wishing to make trouble with him at the academy.

And if the threat of his strength didn't deter them, Inko was sure the fierce look in her son's eye would serve as a decent second warning. The pure determination, and sense of will that Izuku seemed to project with just his gaze alone made the single mother finally, _truly_ believe that her son would indeed become the world's greatest hero even without a quirk.

From the reflection of the mirror Izuku noticed his mother staring at him, his attempt to focus on the day ahead having deafened him to the vocalization of her surprise. And when he looked her in the eye to begin his goodbye's, the wild-haired teen took immediate notice of the emotions that swirled within. Immediately the quirkless boy felt his spirits rise, and confidence soar, and the fledgling hope that had been birthed ten years ago hardened into an unshakable belief.

Quirk or not, Izuku Midoriya _would_ become the world's greatest hero!

 _ **xXx**_

 _ **A/N: Well okay, there's the first chapter to my next story. I originally wasn't going to write this because I wasn't sure it'd be well received, but then I thought about the fact that a big part of doing this is the enjoyment of telling your own version of an already great story. So, here's mine.**_

 _ **Anyway, let me know what you think, and I hope everyone enjoyed this first chapter.**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: Assume nothing**_

 _ **My Quirkless Hero!**_

 _ **Ch.2- Welcome to U.A.!**_

 _ **xXx**_

Dark, almost black, forest-green eyes looked up at the bold, gold-plated lettering used to display the initials of U.A. high school. Izuku Midoriya gazed upon the large campus with intrigue; the testing facility alone was huge, so the young teen could only imagine what the rest of the school would be like.

 _'The best way to find out will be to pass the test I suppose, and the only way to do that is go inside.'_ Izuku thought to himself, before taking his first steps past the entryway and walking down the path set for students. Unfortunately, Izuku wasn't moving fast enough for some of the others, and the wild-haired youth soon found himself being shoved down and out of the way.

Cursing silently to himself Izuku managed to catch a glimpse of spiky, blonde hair as he stumbled. _'Hasn't even made it in the door and already picking a fight,'_ the hero-in-training thought with a sour face; one that soon melted away when Izuku noticed he hadn't hit the ground. _'But...I don't remember catching myself...'_

Izuku's thoughts trailed, and a single dark brow arched when his eyes caught sight of a girl standing not to far from him. She was a small thing, Izuku's analytical mind guessing she couldn't stand more than five feet, with a head of rich chestnut-brown hair. Her hands were held in a strange pose, with just her fingertips touching, and a look of slight concentration was etched into her otherwise cheerful face; one that, he noticed, was home to a pair of very pink cheeks.

The girl noticed his inquisitive look, and immediately answered while placing Izuku back on his feet. Scratching at her head in embarrassment she began with an introduction, "Sorry about that; I know I should have probably asked before using my quirk on you, but I just figured you'd have preferred it to eating cement, ya know? I'm Ochako by the way, Ochako Uraraka, and my quirk is _Zero_ Gravity. If I touch something, or in your case some _one_ , with the pads on my fingers it lets me distort the way they're affected by earths gravity; for you it was making you float so you wouldn't hit the ground."

Izuku listened intently as the girl rambled on, in what seemed like one long breath. Her obvious embarrassment made the youngest Midoriya smile though, because it reminded him a lot of when he was a kindergartner. _'She's talking so fast to avoid a misunderstanding,'_ he concluded. _'Which probably means she's been in this situation before, and other people didn't take too kindly to her using her quirk on them.'_

Deciding to put the restless girl at ease, Izuku held up a hand to stop her before speaking. "There's nothing to apologize for Miss Uraraka; if anything I should thank you. And you were right, eating the pavement is definitely not my idea of a good start to test day, which by the way we'll be late for if we don't hurry. As thanks for saving me, how about I walk you inside?"

Ochako's large, chocolate-brown eyes shone with gratitude, as well as relief that she hadn't angered the freckle-faced boy, as she accepted the strangers offer.

Although this thought brought to light the fact her potential new classmate hadn't introduced himself. So, as she and the dark-haired teen began to make their way towards the entrance of the exam building, Ochako politely probed for the answer she sought. She also made it a point to apologize for the behavior of the boy who'd knocked him down.

"My name's Izuku Midoriya, and there's no need to apologize for that since it wasn't your fault Ms. Uraraka. Besides, Katsuki Bakugou has always been a jerk, it just took me some time to figure that out."

"Oh," Ochako realized. "You guys went to the same preliminary school than, huh?"

Izuku nodded in confirmation, "Yeah, since kindergarten. He's been the school bully as long as I can remember, and it really ticked him off when the teacher announced that I'd applied to U.A., so I'm not surprised by him shoving me today."

"Why would you wanting to apply here bother him though?" Ochako wondered incredulously. "If you have an impressive quirk, where else does this Katsuki expect you to go to school?"

There wasn't anything that could keep the secretive smirk off Izuku's face as he gave the pink-cheeked girl a side glance. "Let's just say my _quirk_ isn't as explosive as Bakugou's, so to him I'm just not good enough to be a hero."

Ochako's response to this was to huff in indignation before shooting back, "Well if anything, _he_ doesn't sound like much of a hero to _me_ with an attitude like that. And it's great to see you never listened to him Izuku; what is your quirk anyway?"

A grinning Izuku was saved from having to give out his secret by Present Mic announcing that it was time for everyone to take their seats. The dark-haired teen pulled the crumpled slip of paper from his pocket before showing it to the petite girl beside him; he was in the middle row, while she was to sit up front.

"If I find you after the exams I'll let you know, okay?"

With that, Izuku waved to his future classmate and ascended the carpeted stairs to his seat. Once he was settled in, the teen's dark-green eyes scanned across the vast lecture hall, and took in any oddities he could find in an effort to determine his fellow test taker's quirks.

One boy he noticed had exhaust ports jutting from the muscles in his calves, while another looked to have the head of a raven. Izuku guessed that the bespectacled teen with the exhaust pipes in his legs was related to Ingenium; a Pro Hero who also sported such hardware. Another hero-in-training he took notice of was a trio of girls; one with hot-pink skin and little antenna coming out of her messy pink hair, another who was _invisible_ , and third who was even smaller than Ochako with her tongue poking out between her lips.

The first two were like the pair of other boys he'd seen; their quirks being advertised, to varying degrees, by their appearance. However, the third girl he noticed was similar to Ochako; normal. Her long, dark hair was only a shade lighter than his own and woven into a bow near the small of her back and her slender fingers rested comfortably on her knees...which he noticed were hunched up by her chest due to the way she was sitting. It was strange, and in a way that Izuku could only describe as frog-like.

Unfortunately, before Izuku could take in anymore of the other students, Present Mic returned to his podium and began speaking.

The mustached man's power, _Voice_ , made him ideal to speak with such a large crowd but Izuku personally found the man to be a bit lacking in terms of being a hero. Perhaps it was the over all boring nature of the man's quirk, or maybe even his attitude, Izuku wasn't sure. All that the young hero-in-training knew was that he held no true reverence for the Pro known as Present Mic.

However Izuku did not let his personal feeling for the instructor drown out what the man was saying; as to do so could lead to failure.

Izuku listened as the Pro explained that the first test would be a written exam that would test the test taker's knowledge of various situations and probabilities, as well as the laws and rules that came with becoming a hero. After all, with Pro's like Endeavor and All Might, it was important for them to learn how to minimize any sort of collateral damage or pull their punches if they make an attempt to stop something as simple as a robbery.

All of this was things Izuku had long since studied, so the teen allowed himself to relax into his chair and breath out much of the tension that had built between his shoulders.

...Only to have them tighten again at the introduction of the second half of the test.

Present Mic's explanation came with slides this time; each one depicting an image of the fight-bots they'd be facing.

"You'll all be herded into the testing ground, which has been built to stand as a replica of your average major city, and let loose for twenty minutes in an effort to gain as many points as possible. Points, as I've just explained, come from whichever fight-bots you destroy and range anywhere from 0-4; so pay attention.

It used to be that we would hold the written test last, but after a mix-up three years ago we found that students tend to do better on it if it's taken first, so everyone please pick up your pencils and begin. You have one hour."

That hour passed slowly for one Izuku Midoriya, especially after finishing within the first ten minutes, because any looking around could be seen as cheating. But when Present Mic finally called time, Izuku could see a number of students fiercely scratching in last minute answers, which caused the quirkless teen to sigh. _'Just more kids thinking that having a quirk makes you above the rules.'_

All the waiting was worth it though when he and the rest of the test taker's were ushered out of the hall, and over towards the area for the practice test. Making sure to avoid Ochako's searching gaze, Izuku slipped between the varying mob of teens to make his way over to the boy with the bird-head.

"Hello, my name is Izuku Midoriya, what would your name happen to be?"

The raven-headed teen turned a single, ruby-red eye on Izuku as he answered. "My name is Fumikage Tokoyami, and no, my quirk is _not_ that I can talk to birds."

"I'm guessing from your answer you get that a lot," the freckle-faced teen chuckled. "But no, I wasn't going to ask that; if anything, I was actually hoping _you_ could tell me rather than me just assume. So, how about it Mr. Tokoyami?"

Fumikage shook his dark-feathered head as he said, "Mr. Tokoyami is my father; if you must call me anything, I would prefer Fumikage. As for information on my quirk; I may be so inclined to tell you, granted you tell me yours first."

Izuku looked on at Fumikage with a calculating stare, one that was matched by the other boy perfectly, before letting the same secretive grin he'd given to Ochako slid across his face again. "I can see you're a little more careful than some of the others I've met Fumikage, I respect that, however just as you like your secrets I do as well...so I'll have to decline your offer of trade; for now."

"Then I suppose the only thing left is to wish you luck, Izuku Midoriya, because it seems as if the second half of the exam is about to begin." Fumikage offered.

Taking heed of the other boy's words, Izuku turned his attention back on the large doorway that lead to the testing grounds. Present Mic had just finished speaking to them over the intercom, and the sign above the door was steadily counting down form five...

Four...

Three...

Two...

One...

With a loud blare the doors swung open, and everyone scrambled to make it inside so as to get enough points to pass. Izuku, while eager, managed to remain calm though and started with an easy jog towards the entrance.

 _'No use running until the path is clear, otherwise I'll just keep bumping into people.'_ Izuku thought as he carefully dodged around running and desperate bodies. _'It'll be better if I start slower, then once I'm inside I can break away and get to higher ground. From there I can scope out the best place to start racking up points.'_

Izuku's strategy played out the moment he entered the makeshift city; with such wide and open streets he was easily able to break off from the large group that had followed him in. Once he was out in the open, Izuku reached for his holster and extracted the grappling gun he'd used some of his final paycheck to purchase. With practiced ease the young teen soon found himself zipping up the side of one of the fake office buildings, and then planting his sneaker-clad feet atop the concrete roof. Returning his gun to its rightful place, the quirkless youth's next move was breaking out a pair of basic binoculars to scout out the city streets.

It wasn't hard to see that the second phase of the entrance exams was well under way, as Izuku easily made out the sings of various powerful quirks being put to work in an effort to destroy the fight-bots.

There were large shards of ice skewering a number of the smaller bots, and the telltale sings of explosions assured Izuku that his former childhood friend was amassing his own set of points. These were more than enough encouragement for Izuku to sweep the city and find his own target.

It didn't take long, and soon Izuku was racing across rooftops with the help of his grappling gun.

Once he was close enough, the teen swallowed the fear in his throat and leaped from his last rooftop. From his place in mid-air Izuku forced himself to take deep, heavy breaths of air in an attempt to calm his racing heart before shooting out with his gun again; this time so it latched onto the arm of a 3-point fight-bot. Swinging through the air, Izuku let his line go taught and bring him into an upward arc before hitting the release on his line. Instead of the cord retracting, it was cut from the gun, and Izuku soon found himself working into a roll as he hit the street.

A little dizzy from the rush Izuku's first throw of his disks was off, and they found nothing but air. But with a flex of his fingers, the recall chip in his gloves activated and had them whirling around and coming back to him. Making sure to keep his body moving, and avoid being a sitting duck, Izuku caught his weapons as he dodged away from the fight-bots' laser eye attack.

Izuku's second attack was significantly more accomplished; the first disk damaging the bots' deadly laser, and the second clogging the machine's arm canon.

With his enemy's ability to both see as well as attack compromised, a grinning Izuku rushed in to finish the wildly waving machine off. Leaping into the air once he was close enough, the wild-haired boy managed to find a foothold against his robotic opponent's wide shoulder. From this angle, Izuku peered inside before thrusting his hand into the damaged space that once held the bots' eye, where he used his gloved hand to rip out what he deduced to be the the core motor processor.

Dropping back down to the pavement, Izuku watched a moment as the lights went out in his enemy's head. Then, secure in the knowledge that he'd just gained three points, the quirkless teen rushed off to where he had spotted his second target; a group of 1-point fight-bots.

It was as he felled his third target, a 2-pointer, and brought his score up to ten that Izuku decided to check the timer. He had five minutes left.

Content with the fact that he had managed to acquire a double-digit number of points, the freckle-faced teen decided that it would be good to use the last five minutes as a time to further observe the other test-takers.

This train of thought lead Izuku to the top of another tall office building replica, which unknowingly gave the young man a clear view of the newest addition to the exam. From his perch, Izuku looked on with wide eyes as the largest fight-bot he had ever seen entered into the field. The machine was as big as Mt. Lady, and equipped with not one but four laser beams in its eye socket. Along its arms were miniature turrets, and its chest looked to house a dangerous-looking beam canon.

However, none of these dangerous additions were what put Izuku off. No, what caused the young teen to lose interest was the huge zero that was printed along the fight-bots' heavy shoulders.

 _'Present Mic did say there would be a 0-point obstacle rolling around somewhere near the end, but this is ridiculous. I can't imagine anyone bothering to even try against this thing if it's got no value to their score.'_ Izuku thought with a sigh.

And he was right. Once the heroes-in-training noticed that the menacingly large enemy would have no impact on raising their grade many of them attempted to distance themselves from it; while others, he noticed, did it out of pure fear. One of which was the girl, Ochako, that he'd met at the entrance that morning.

Recognition turned to worry though when Izuku noticed one, important fact. Ochako was trapped. It was clear that she had been trying to outrun the monstrous robot, but after being hit with one of the machine's turret bolts she dropped. Whether from pain or a paralyzing effect Izuku wasn't sure, but at the moment such a thing didn't matter.

Nothing mattered more at that moment than the surge that tingled through Izuku's bones.

It was a feeling he'd never experienced before, one that filled his whole body. It wasn't a burning or explosive feeling, nothing so fierce. Instead it was more like a buzz; an almost thrumming pulse. This feeling caused Izuku's whole lower-body to start shaking with a...not a need, but an instinct.

 _Protect_

Something deep inside Izuku shouted at him to protect the person he saw in danger, to remove them from harms way, and make sure they were safe.

It was this instinct that had Izuku pushing off the edge of his perch, and zipping through the air with the use of his grapple-gun. It took him mere moments to close the gap thanks to this gadget, but that did nothing to quiet the call that resonated within. Izuku knew that saving Mr. Uraraka was the only way to ease the tension in his gut.

Landing on his feet just a few steps from the downed brunette Izuku immediately rushed to her aid. A quick round of questioning had the young teen learning that, indeed, the fight-bots' turrets fired stun bolts. Realizing how dangerous it would be to get caught by one, Izuku hoisted his new charge over his shoulder and grappled them to safety while the mechanized monster was being distracted by a ferocious looking Bakugo. Izuku could only guess that the blonde was attempting to make a statement by taking on the huge robot, especially since it wasn't worth anything to his score.

Setting his frightened package down, Izuku quickly hushed her before checking her over for injuries.

"You've got a few scrapes, probably from the way you just dropped after being hit, but nothing major. And while I'm not sure how long the paralysis will last you should be safe here, on this fire escape, until the test is over. From what I can guess, there's only about a minute left."

Ochako decided to use that minute to thank her savior. "Thank you for saving me Izuku; although I am sorry getting myself in position where you even had to."

"No, don't apologize," Izuku began. "You had no way of knowing that would happen, so it's not your fault. Besides, as a person who wants to become a Pro Hero, I can't imagine running away when I see someone in need."

The pink-cheeked brunette gaped. "B-But weren't you scared? I mean, that thing is huge!"

Izuku shrugged, his face a little sheepish as he replied. "Well yeah, but isn't being a hero fighting your fears for the sake of others in need? I couldn't let my negative feelings, or worrying thoughts get in the way, so I pushed them back so that I could do my job. But now that it's over, look, I'm shaking." 

Ochako looked down at the boy's hand, and sure enough, her large eyes could easily make out the way Izuku's hands were trembling. From her spot against the railing of the fire escape the girl couldn't help but stare at the young man kneeling beside her. Her chocolate-brown eyes shone with admiration and wonder as she took in the one known as Izuku Midoriya.

However it was during this examination that Ochaku Uraraka finally noticed just how fit her savior was.

Soft pink soon bloomed into a rosy red, and the petite brunette dropped her eyes to stare at her lap. Adding to her nervous nature the embarrassed girl worried her bottom lip with her teeth; Ochako needing some sort of movement since her thumbs were incapable of twiddling.

Izuku quickly noticed the way his companion's posture had changed, and cocked his head in bewilderment as he asked if she was alright. "You just sort of clammed up on me there; did I say something strange?"

Ochako could only wildly shake her head as the buzzer for the timer sounded.

 _'Pull yourself together Ochako,'_ the blushing girl reprimanded herself. _'You just met him today, and barely even know his name. Just because he has a nice body doesn't mean I have to act like some mindless groupie!'_

Ochako had seen it before, girls at her middle school drooling at the mouth just because a hero had big muscles or a handsome face. It had made her ashamed to be a girl, as well as silently promise to never behave in such a way herself; you could find someone attractive _without_ any ulterior motive. Shaking her head to clear away the embarrassment she felt, Ochako noticed that she could move again.

Eager to escape her current situation, and save face in front of a potential classmate, Ochako shot to her feet with a loud exclamation of surprise.

"I guess it only lasted a minute," Izuku muttered as he also stood.

With Ochako capable of moving on her own now the two teens quickly made their way down the fire escape, and were soon joining their fellow test-takers on the walk to the exit of the exam field. As they moved though, the petite brunette remembered her companion's promise from earlier, so she turned and asked:

"So, Izuku, what is your quirk exactly? You promised to tell me after the exams, remember?"

The young man in question flinched at being reminded of his earlier words, but managed to hide it before looking around. Before leaving that morning he had made the decision to keep his quirkless nature to himself as long as possible, so he had to make sure there were no listening ears before he told the girl beside him his secret.

"I'll tell you, but you have to keep this a secret okay?" Izuku prompted with a stern look. When Ochako gave a wide-eyed, unsure nod the freckle-faced teen continued. "I actually don't have a quirk Ms. Uraraka; it's why I have this utility belt."

Ochako stumbled at that revelation and shot the boy beside her a look of pure disbelief. "Y-You what!? I-Izuku, how many p-points did you get then, in the exam just now?"

"I got ten before stopping to watch the rest of you," Izuku shrugged. "There was a 3-pointer, a couple of 1-pointers, and finally a 2-pointer; it took me most of the exam, but I figured anything was better than zero."

For the third time that day Ochako Uraraka was left to look on at Izuku Midoriya in amazement. The fight-bots for the exam weren't exactly the easiest things to handle if you didn't have a powerful quirk, like the blonde or dual-haired boy with the burn she'd seen, and for Izuku to have defeated a 3-point bot by himself without any sort of quirk at all was just something Ochako hadn't thought likely.

"Wow Izuku, t-that's amazing. You really took on a fight-bot worth three points without using any powers? I-I didn't think these things were designed to be able to be taken down without some sort of quirk."

Izuku's response was another shrug. He didn't personally think what he had done was that amazing; but then he supposed in a world full of super-powered people, any normal human that performed beyond normal levels was considered unusual. "It's nothing really; I think it'd have been more amazing if I could have taken out that bigger one at the end there, but without the right equipment it wouldn't have gone my way. As for how I got my points, it was really just because I study and train so hard that I was able to handle those smaller bots. Without a quirk of my own, it just means I need to try that much harder to get accepted, but I'm okay with that."

The small girl beside him couldn't help but smile at the casual way Izuku had explained his success; doing it in such a way that he downplayed his own talent, while highlighting that his victory was due more to the efforts of preparation rather than raw power or blind luck.

"It may not seem like a big deal to you, but trust me, compared to other normal people you're already pretty super Izuku."

Izuku's response to her praise was an unexpected shake of his head. "Maybe to some, but physically I'm still pretty far behind the likes of people who compete in the Olympics. If I really wanna stand a chance out in the Pro Hero world, I'll need to improve quickly during my time at U.A. ."

By this time the pair had made it back to the lecture hall, and were quickly seated together in the front row. With the tests over, the group was free to sit wherever they chose, and from the corner of his eye Izuku could already see a number of teens grouping together and forming cliques.

 _'No doubt based on what they saw of each other during the practical exams,'_ the calculating young teen thought as he watched Bakugou be approached by another boy. This one had a head of spiky red hair, and Izuku's dark-green eyes quickly caught a glimpse of the way the teen's forearm hardened and became rigid like stone, before he was tapped on the shoulder. Letting his attention be pulled away from the two other boys Izuku was soon looking at the same girl he had noticed during the written test; her large, onyx eyes stared at him with an unwavering gaze that made him a little uncomfortable. It was like she was looking _through_ him, rather than at him.

"Um, hi, can I help you with something?"

The girl's head cocked to the side as she answered. Her voice held a quality Izuku could only describe as _croaky_ , yet it held a distinct directness that he couldn't help but appreciate. "I was wondering if you wouldn't mind me sitting here? If I sit up front, there's no chance someone taller will be in my way."

Izuku chuckled good-naturdely at the girl's obvious barb to most people's inconsideration for those more vertically challenged, and motioned with his hand to the seat on the left of him. Once the she was situated, Izuku introduced himself.

Shaking the boy's offered hand, the slim teen gave her own name. "My name's Tsuyu Asui; but please, call me Tsu."

The way she said it, Izuku made sure to keep her preference in mind for future conversations, as he had a feeling he'd be seeing a lot of this girl. What she said next though caught the quirkless boy by surprise.

"I hope you don't mind, but why were you staring at me earlier; right before the written exam?"

"S-Staring, I was staring?" Izuku muttered in befuddlement; he was sure he'd merely glanced before looking to someone else.

Tsuyu nodded before elaborating. "You started out looking at the other people in the room, but after you saw me your eyes didn't move until Present Mic started talking. Was there something you wanted to ask?"

Izuku was stunned. Surely he wasn't _that_ careless!?

It was almost like the girl next to him could read his mind, because she quickly put that fear to rest. "I didn't see anyone else notice, just me, but that's because I'm used to the feeling of being looked at because of my quirk. Trust me, your observational skills are pretty advanced, it's a little scary actually."

Now Izuku was embarrassed; he hadn't realized his eyes had stopped that long. However he felt safe in the knowledge that his early years of training were paying off, even if it was just a room full of teenagers. Then something Tsuyu mentioned came to mind, but before he could comment on it Ochako beat him to it.

"You mentioned that people stare at you because of your quirk; what is it?"

Tsuyu's answer was preempted by a soft, almost frog-like croak before she told them. " _Frog-Form_ ; like its name, it gives me a lot of the same abilities as a frog. Unfortunately, according to my former classmates, it also makes me _look_ like one too."

"So you thought that was why I was looking at you," Izuku concluded. When Tsuyu nodded, the freckle-faced youth could see a flash of hurt in her eyes. Izuku knew all to well how hurtful others could be so he made an attempt to balm to unintentionally opened wound. "It was actually the opposite, Tsu, I was curious about what your quirk was because you looked so normal; like Ms. Uraraka."

There was a glint that Izuku thought looked like hope before Ochako drew his attention away.

"You know, you don't have to call me Ms. Uraraka Izuku. If anything, I'd like us to be friends, so please feel free to call me Ochako."

Izuku nodded in understanding before offering an apologetic smile. "Sorry about that Ochako, I just always try to be respectful when meeting new people, but I would be more than happy to be your friend as well. The same offer extends to you as well, Tsu, if you want it?"

Tsuyu's response was a happy nod; her eyes closed in delight, with the tip of her tongue poking out between her lips. The pure happiness Izuku saw in that face made him smile softly in return, and as he leaned back in his chair to get comfortable he thought about the near future.

 _'So this is what it feels like to make friends.'_

 _ **xXx**_

It was a week later that Izuku received his results for the entrance exams. The quirkless youth was just coming home from martial arts practice, and had barely made it in the door, before his mother sprung to him with excitement from the kitchen.

Envelope in hand, Inko scurried over to her son and giddily thrust the results at Izuku. "They came! Your results for the entrance exams came today Izuku; I haven't opened them, but it's been hard. I'm so excited, and they're not even for me, how do you think you did?"

Izuku managed to quell his mother's bubbly excitement with a patient smile, and a pat on her shoulder before answering. "I know I did just well enough to pass, so I think I'll be alright, but I have to admit to being a little nervous too. I feel like they still may not accept me if my score isn't in a high percentile."

Inko gave her son a reassuring hug before looking at him with motherly eyes. "Oh, Izuku, don't worry about something like that. Besides, if anything, you can always try again next year...right?"

"Yeah," the boy agreed quietly. However on the inside the thought of not passing today was eating at him a little; Izuku didn't want to be separated from his new friends so soon. Unfortunately, there would be no way of knowing until he actually opened the results, so both mother and son made their way over to the couch in order to do just that.

The silence of the apartment was only broken by the sound of Izuku opening the envelope in his hands, and the rustling of him retrieving the letter. It was a virtual recording, so Izuku set it on the coffee table and waited a moment for it to start.

It didn't take long, and within seconds of being activated Izuku and his mother were looking at a hologram of the world's number one hero; All Might.

The man was large, even when being seen through such a recording, and was built almost purely out of muscle. His oddly styled gold-blonde hair was smoothed back, flaring out at the nape of his neck, with two large bangs arching up towards the sky. Instead of his typical hero costume however, the smiling Pro was dressed in a tan suit; one that Izuku found a bit out of place on such a large man.

It was with a wide, glittering smile that All Might greeted Izuku and began relaying the results of the boy's test.

" _Izuku Midoriya it is with great pleasure that I, All Might, bring you the results of your entrance exams. And if you're asking yourself why the number one hero is the one on your screen, it's because I'm also using these result returns to announce that this year I will be starting my new position as a teacher of U.A.! However I'm sure you and your family are anxious to hear your results, so I'll cut my introduction here and get to it; Izuku Midoriya...starting bright and early Monday morning you will begin your life as a U.A. student!"_

Inko's arms shot into the air as she cheered for her son's success, while Izuku himself just slumped back against the couch in relief. However, just as he was letting out the breath he'd been holding, the recording of All Might began speaking again.

" _However, while I'm sure you're excited, there are a number of things I've been informed by the Principal that I need to lay to you; one of which being your documented lack of a quirk. The second is your over all exam scores, which leads to the third stipulation which happens to be your place in the upcoming class._

 _To begin with, we'll start with your lack of a quirk. Because you have no actual super-human or unnatural ability your placement was originally going to be that of Department of Support due to your obvious understanding of tools and gadgets. However that proposal was turned down when the examiners watched the footage of just how you handled those tools; it was unquestionable that your usage of them to perform heroic acts outweighed your desire to show off their capabilities. And so you were placed in the Department of Heroes; Class-1A to be exact._

 _Unfortunately, as I've said, your lack of quirk raised the issue of which class you would be placed in. You see, there was talks of placing you in Class-1C; which is the General Education class. This would allow you to take a number of various courses, while steering away from the core hero classes, but still allow you to go on to become a police officer or a fire fighter if you so chose. This was originally where you were to be placed...but then we watched the end of your exams._

 _The final, and ultimately the deciding factor, for placing you in 1-A was the footage we have of you saving young Ms. Ochako Uraraka. You demonstrated a clear and unwavering sense of heroism in your act of rescuing Ms. Uraraka while all the other students fled in self-preservation; the true mark of a budding hero. Following this, you chose to remain by her side rather than attempt confronting the robot like young Bakugo, siting to your fellow future classmate that rushing into battle unprepared was grounds for failure. This showed us that you had a clear, and level head on your shoulders; another plus._

 _And yet, as I mentioned a moment ago, your placement in the class is indeed a tenuous one. At this very moment, thanks mostly in part to your written exam scores, you have placed just barely at the bottom of your class. Your practical score was just of an over all booster to grant you acceptance into U.A., but not the Hero's class. That was decided by your rescue points. You see, something none of you were told was that the examiners would also be granting additional points based on how well you all worked with the mindset of a hero. So while many of the students went charging in and unleashing their quirks at full blast, we watched you use your head and strategize. We watched how, as other students victories still caused damage to the city, your points were gained without the destruction of the city around you even with no civilians in sight. Add that to the points you scored with rescuing a fellow examinee, and you, young Midoriya, have earned a grand total of one-hundred rescue points."_

Izuku listened with rapt attention as the projection broke down his results for the entrance exams. Hearing that he had only just made it into the actual heroes class was both a surprise, as well as worrying. Thoughts tumbled around in a mad tornado inside his head as the freckle-faced teen awaited All Might's further explanation of what it meant to be at the bottom of the class.

He wasn't made to wait long...

" _To wrap this up, I'm going to tell just what sort of position being at the bottom of the class puts you in. To be blunt; any mistake will more than likely see you dropped from Class 1-A to 1-C. This means that, in order to retain your spot in class you will both have to keep up with the rest of YOUR class, as well as maintain an average score above that of any student from Class 1-C. It is a difficult situation I'm afraid, one might even call it unfair, but U.A. academy only boasts the best graduates the world has to offer, so we must ask a lot from our students._

 _With that I'll leave you and your family to talk over what I've just told you. I hope to see you in class on Monday young Izuku Midoriya but, if I don't, I'll understand. Once again, congratulations on passing the entrance exams, and welcome to U.A.."_

With that the recording shut off, and Izuku was left sitting next to his mother on the couch in tense silence.

For Izuku the silence was deafening; and yet all the boy could hear was the pounding of his own heart in his ears. He had made it into U.A., made it into the heroes class even, but that position was already in danger before he even step foot into a classroom...all because he didn't have a quirk.

This knowledge at first infuriated the youngest Midoriya, it re-awoke the child from so long ago who had attempted to hide his pain behind an overly large smile after being told he would never have a quirk of his own. That child had been angry, so _very_ angry, and that same anger was once again beginning to well up inside Izuku now as he sat on his mothers couch.

But then, instead of lashing out, Izuku surprised both his mother and _himself_ by starting to laugh.

It was the laugh one had when they remembered a funny joke; low and humorous, but not overly noticeable. It was only her place next to him that allowed Inko to even hear her son's strange behavior.

"Izuku, honey, are you okay? I-I know hearing some of that might have been a but hard for you, but you _did_ get in, and it's not as if you weren't already working hard to prove you could be a hero with no quirk. Y-You're not going to give up now are you, because of what All Might said, are you?"

Izuku's who'd had his head down during his mother's nervous inference, finally managed to get his laughter under control enough to where he could lift his eyes and look over clearly at his mother.

The hard, determined look that met her was again enough to stall his mother's breath. However this time, there was a challenging flame that danced behind the quirkless student's myrtle-green eyes lit the dark gems with a heat that seemed to radiate from the teenage boy in waves.

Izuku's eyes told his mother everything. So what if he was a the bottom of his class, and his scores were only just enough to get him by the entrance exams? He was in now, on his way to becoming the worlds first quirkless hero, and _nothing_ was going to stand in his way.

The question wasn't whether Izuku Midoriya was ready for U.A. academy, but rather, if U.A. was ready for Izuku Midoriya.

 _ **xXx**_

 _ **A/N: Well there's chapter two. This one might feel a smidgen longer than the last one because I wrote out All Might's explanation for Izuku's results rather than trying to shorten it.**_

 _ **I introduced Tsuyu early, and had her befriending Izuku purely because I love her character and think she's funny. You'll also notice I kind of introduced Tokoyami too; this is also because he is one of my favorite characters. Ochako was introduced purely because I saw no real reason to remove his meeting her; I am personally indifferent to her character, although I kinda like her quirk.**_

 _ **Speaking of quirks; no, I actually do not like Present Mic. I think he's lame. I admit Izuku's thoughts were a shameless plug on my part, but that does not mean there will be any real sort of bashing going on in this story.**_

 _ **Now, I know some people might comment about how I broke down the tests or even about Izuku's placement in school. The first thing I'm going to tackle is his placement, and for that I'll only make one real reference...Mineta. If someone like Mineta, with a quirk like his, managed to make it into Class 1-A then I really don't see how Izuku couldn't do it with no quirk at all.**_

 _ **Next is the actual exam; yes I gave the written exam actual weight in deciding if someone was accepted into U.A.. I did this because it bothered me how it seemed the practical portion was the only one people seemed to worry about. I mean, the rules and laws of being a hero and having a quirk should matter just as much, if not more than, the application of those things. I refer you to the conversation Izuku, Todorki, and Tenya had with the police chief after their battle with Stain. So yes, I broke it into about a 50/50 sort of deal, with the practical portion being further divided by rescue points and battle points like in the show itself.**_

 _ **Mentioning the rescue points, I wanna point out that I was interested to see how the examinee's didn't take into account the fact that they were in a model city. I mean, even if there are no people in the testing area, I still feel it should count towards a test-taker's grade if they show the use of caution while using their powers/doing battle as if it were a real-life scenario. Again, that's just me though.**_

 _ **I know I don't show a whole lot of Izuku in action this chapter either, but that's really just because against the fight-bots I can't really think of many ways to make the battles interesting. So I apologize for that. Another thing is, I am trying to showcase the fact that Izuku is observant as well as thoughtful in his actions. I may have over-old it a little in this chapter, and if so let me know and I'll try to dial it back.**_

 _ **Anyway, I think that's it. Other than an error I need to fix back in chapter one, I hope everyone enjoys these first two chapters and looks forward to the third, where Izuku begins his time at U.A. and undergoes the Quirk Apprehension Test. This will be the highlighting of Izuku's quirkless nature to the other students, as well as the beginning of his true struggle with achieving his goal.**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: Just want everyone to know that I actually like Bakugou's character, as he is another of my favorites from the series. However I do intend to up his intensity as a bully. Also, again, please excuse the fact that I'm sure I spelled someone's name wrong last chapter...and possibly in chapter one. I will be going back and fixing that this weekend.**_

 _ **My Quirkless Hero!**_

 _ **Ch. 3- Leaping to 16th**_

 _ **xXx**_

Izuku finished tying the laces on his athletic sneakers before grabbing his backpack and heading for the door. Today was the first day of his high school career, and the quirkless teen knew that with his current standing, being late wasn't an option.

However just as he went to grab the doorknob, Izuku's mother came scurrying out of the kitchen, bento in hand, and a smile on her face. "Honey wait, you don't want to forget your lunch."

The freckle-faced youth's eyes widened as he realized that, in his deep introspective about being on time, he had indeed forgotten to grab the food his mother had made him the night before. Letting his face form into a mask of embarrassment Izuku turned from the door to their apartment, and stepped over to meet his mother by the couch.

"I don't know what I'd do without you mom," the teen chuckled. "Some days I think I'd lose my own head if you weren't there to keep it screwed on for me."

Inko's response was to give her son a weary, but soft look. "It's the least a mother can do for her son; I just want to help you with your dream in any way I can Izuku. Especially since-"

"Mom, stop. Please. I already told you that I don't blame you for my not having a quirk; if anything, I've learned to be thankful. If I had been born with a quirk then I probably would have never thought to put in as much work as I have into my dream. Besides, I think being the only quirkless Pro will be a much better legacy than being just another run of the mill hero. Don't you?"

Izuku's words did a great deal to lighten the load of guilt Inko felt settling onto her shoulders again, as she remembered having this same conversation with her son the day he told her he was going to apply for U.A. Just like then, hearing the earnest way her only child spoke of his dream and seeing the determination in his eyes lead Inko to truly believe her son would really become the worlds' first quirless hero.

Before the tears could start to fall, Inko handed her son his lunch, and wrapped the messy-haired teen in a fierce hug.

Izuku, although dressed in his new uniform, cared nothing for the tear stains that his mother was no doubt leaving behind on his blazer. Instead, the young high school student simply let his own arms come around and return the embrace with just as much emotion. The young man knew how his mother felt, and in turn had made a silent promise to himself long ago to show her that, any guilt or self-loathing, was not needed...because he loved her.

"You don't ever have to apologize to me mom; you didn't do _anything_ wrong."

Their heart to heart was cut short though when the clock on the wall beeped; as it did every hour. Both mother and son's eyes snapped open at that, as they realized Izuku's bus to the train station would be arriving soon, and if he didn't hurry the teen would miss it.

With a quick squeeze of reassurance Izuku thanked his mother for the lunch again before darting out the door, Inko's vocalization of how proud she was echoing through the hallway as he reached the elevator. Once he was on the ground floor, Izuku barely waited for the doors to open as he slid between them and raced through the lobby and towards the front door.

Shoving open the glass double doors, Izuku's dark-green eyes quickly caught sight of the public bus...as it began pulling away from the stop by his complex.

"WAIT!"

Izuku's shout startled a number of pedestrians passing by, but didn't seem to reach the ears of the bus driver because the public transport didn't stop. Deciding that anymore vocal protests were pointless Izuku began to give chase. It wasn't a long run, since the driver seemed to notice him from the side mirror, but the fear of being late for his first day had the quirkless teen thinking he'd just run a marathon.

When the bus finally did stop, at a red light no less, and let the frazzled youth on Izuku let his eyes scan the available seats quickly before noticing a familiar head of dark hair. Smiling at the thought of seeing a familiar face so early in the morning Izuku made his way to the middle of the bus and surprised his new classmate.

"Good morning Tsu; I'm surprised to see you so soon today. Does this mean you and I live close?"

"I'm not sure; I was visiting my uncle yesterday for some last minute prepping for school. That's why I took the 103 today, usually I take the 46."

Hearing this Izuku laughed. When Tsu gave him a look, the freckled teen explained himself. "I'm not laughing at you, Tsu, just the fact that, according to your answer, you and I live about an hour away by car. I guess that answers my earlier question as well; we don't live close."

"I...don't really know what's so funny about it, but I'll take your word for it Izuku. Anyway, how are you feeling about our first day at U.A.?"

"I'm a little excited myself," Izuku answered truthfully. "Although since we haven't even gotten through orientation I can't give a clearer answer than that; maybe ask me at lunch? What about you, how are you doing?"

Asui's face morphed into an contemplative look as she hummed. "I'd have to say I'm a little worried, but my uncle told me that would mostly come from not knowing what the school or teachers were like yet."

"Your uncle sounds like a pretty level-headed guy; I take it your dad managed to pull a shorter shift at the office for you to get the chance to visit?" Tsu had mentioned her responsibility of watching her siblings in passing to Izuku during their first meeting, so to hear that the girl was able to come this far out to visit another relative must have meant something happened at her home.

Asui corroborated this with a quick nod. "Yeah, turns out he'd set it up with his boss the night before the entrance exams; if I passed he'd get the time off so I could visit uncle Keru."

"That's good, I'm glad you were able to do that before the term started. You sound like you really needed it." Izuku smiled down at his new friend.

Before either of them could say anymore though, the bus jerked to a halt and they were told over the intercom that they had just reached the train station. Not wishing for another mishap, Izuku quickly helped Asui off the bus and walked beside her to the ticket machine. As the slim owner of the _Frog-Form_ quirk purchased a day pass from the mechanical box, Izuku simply slid his own bus pass through the card reader. Once that was finished, the two teens quietly made their way onto the train, where Izuku quickly offered an open seat to Asui upon noticing how packed the public transport already was.

"The ride's only a few minutes Izuku, you don't have to give up the seat for me."

Izuku's response was to shrug. "Well yeah, but I'd rather you have it and be comfortable than a stranger get it and we _both_ be uncomfortable, ya know?"

Asui conceded to this explanation and took the offered seat before asking her new friend more about the utility belt he wore around his waist. "You mentioned on the way out of the exam room that it helped you pass, but I don't understand how.

"That's because it's not the belt that helped Tsu, but the tools inside." Izuku's response was dripping with playful sarcasm, which earned him a swift showing of his friend's tongue. "Anyway, the see the various compartments around the belt itself? Well those have gadgets in them that I use to do different things; one of my favorites it this one."

Izuku reached across his hip, and unclipped his grappling gun from its holster before showing it to the girl sitting in front of him. "This is what I used to help save Ochako during the exam; it's called a grappling gun."

Asui recalled hearing from the girl with pink cheeks how Izuku had seemed to appear out of nowhere, and hurtle her to safety just as quickly as if he'd been flying. Yet, as she looked over the metal contraption in her new friend's hand, Asui Tsuyu couldn't make heads or tails of how the thing worked. It wasn't that she didn't believe Izuku; simply just that she had not knowledge to go off of in regards to his gadgets. In a world full of super-powered people, one tended to forget about such things as guns and other man-made weapons.

Izuku could clearly see the confused, concentrated look on Tsu's face and couldn't keep from chuckling good-naturdely at the way she shifted the deeper Asui got into her thoughts. The girl was just pressing her fingertip softly into her chin as her tongue peeked out between her lips when she heard him.

Looking up, her head cocking to the side, Asui squinted in a playful glare as she shot her impressively long tongue out to smack Izuku gently on the head. "So I don't know what it does; that just means you'll have to show me Izuku."

"If it means not getting hit on the head again, it's a deal." The quirkless teen laughed to himself, relishing the feeling of having a real friend for the first time in his life. Being friends with Katugi he discovered wasn't the same as what he saw forging between not only Asui and himself, but Ochako as well. Recalling his childhood, Izuku found that his friendship with Bakugo was based more off of Izuku's own wishes to be like the blonde than anything else. As if spending time with the powerful, popular boy would somehow rub off on him.

Once he was old enough to understand this, Izuku's relationship with Katsugi Bakugo quickly fell apart, and the blonde revealed himself to be both a braggart as well as a bully. And Izuku shook his head in disbelief that he had ever wanted to be friends with such a person.

Those thoughts were interrupted, once again, by a voice over an intercom. Only this time it was the train announcing its arrival at the station he and Tsu would need to get off at to reach U.A.

Pushing aside the past for the time being, Izuku once again helped make a path for his shorter companion before exiting the train. When they were both free of the main crowd Izuku and Asui made their way out of the train station and across the street so as to be on the correct side. The pair quickly made their way down the sidewalk, careful not to bump into any of the men and woman bustling to get to work on foot, and finally arrived at the entrance to U.A.

The school was just as grand as the first time they had seen it the day of the entrance exams. It's veritable height and pristine construction work were both a testament to U.A. academy's high-ranking status.

"I heard that only one in every three-hundred applicants are even accepted.; and of those applying for the Hero course's top forty, four of _those_ are hand-picked to attend on recommendation. The others are the ones who score within the top percent for the entrance exam." Izuku explained quietly as he and Asui stood at the archway entrance.

"And just think, you got in without a quirk." Asui smiled over to him.

Izuku looked to the girl beside him in shock for a moment, as he hadn't actually disclosed his quirklessness to her yet, only to utter another small laugh. _'Leave it to Tsu to pick up on something like that without needing to be told.'_

"How'd you figure it out?" Izuku questioned softly as they made their way inside. "Was there anything I did in particular that gave it away?"

Asui shook her head in the negative as she responded. "No, nothing like that. You actually just confirmed it for me; it was really just a hunch since you never mentioned what yours was when we met."

Izuku gawked at the girl walking next to him, his jaw dropping in disbelief for a moment. Had she really just played him so easily? "O-Oh, wow. Um...is there any way I could convince you not to tell anyone else in class? I'd really like to keep it a secret as long as possible."

"You don't have to do anything Izuku; keeping secrets is what friends do for each other, right?"

The complete honesty that showed on Asui's face as she questioned him set both Izuku's mind, as well as racing heart, at ease. Asui Tsuyu really would keep his secret simply because they were friends.

To answer the lithe girl with dark-green hair Izuku offered another smile as he hummed in agreement. By this time though the pair had managed to arrive at the door to their classroom, and Izuku was once again taking the lead by opening the door and allowing his friend to enter first. As he was getting ready to close the door however, another female voice caught his attention.

"Hey, Izuku, wait up!"

The freckle-faced teen turned to look over his shoulder and noticed that the one who had called to him was none other than Ochako. The petite brunette was taking quick steps to cover the gap between herself and the door Izuku was still holding open, an once she arrived the two quickly fell into a pattern of greeting.

And yet, as he talked merrily with the excitable girl, Izuku's senses nagged at him to the point that he scanned the room with his peripheral vision. It didn't take the young man long to find the danger, as it came in a very familiar form; Katsuki Bakugou.

The young blonde was giving the dark-haired teen a seething look from the shadow of his bangs; made even more menacing by the glow it seemed to give Bakugou's crimson orbs. However Izuku refused to be intimidated by his childhood bully, and instead chose to ignore the blonde and continue talking with Ochako.

A conversation that was interrupted by a gruff, male voice.

"If you're just here to make friends than I suggest you pack up your stuff now and go home."

With his head darting up from where he'd been looking down at Ochako Izuku noticed that the one who'd spoken was seated up against the wall outside the classroom. The speaker was dressed in an all-black outfit, which matched with his wild shoulder-length black hair, and had what looked to be tape or bandages loosely wrapped wound his neck. The man was tall, but lanky, and had a tired sort of appearance from what Izuku could make out complete with a hint of stubble around his face.

As he quickly finished analyzing the newcomer the alarm bells in Izuku's head went off as he realized that, either the man had been sitting there from the beginning when he'd arrived, or had snuck up during his talk with Ochako.

 _'Either way, for me not to have even noticed him at all is...frightening.'_ The quirkless teen admitted silently. _'Just who the heck is this guy?'_

That answer came in the form of an unexpected shock. As the stranger stood from his seat on the floor, Izuku gently grabbed Ochako's sleeve and moved her into the classroom to get her out of the guy's way. The green-haired boy looked on, like a number of his fellow classmates, with a look of curiosity as well as tightly coiled bodies as their newest guest introduced themselves.

"My name is Shota Aizawa, and I...am your teacher."

 _ **xXx**_

Izuku stood beside Asui as he and the rest of his class stood out on one of the practice fields in their gym uniforms. Mr. Aizawa had tossed one to each of them before informing them that they were to put them on and meet him down on the fields as soon as possible.

Now, the young man stood among the nineteen other students that made up Class 1-A, wondering just what his new homeroom teacher was up to.

"Now that you're all here I can tell you what it is we'll be doing today." The scruffy homeroom teacher began. However, before he could really begin, Izuku noticed the tall kid in his class, Tenya, raise his hand in permission to speak.

"Excuse me, Mr. Aizawa, but shouldn't we be getting to the auditorium for orientation? If we don't leave soon we'll miss it-"

"So what?"

Tenya, along with a few other students, jumped at their teacher's stern glare as he cut the bespectacled boy off. And before he could be questioned again, Shota Aizawa followed his question with an explanation.

"Orientation is just a waste of time; it has no true value. Last time I checked you all came to this school to become Pro's, not attend speeches, so unless I'm wrong I want everyone to stand there and _be quiet_ until I'm finished...or the next time I'm interrupted that person's gonna find themselves on the next bus home."

Seeing that he had their attention, Shota began telling them about what it was they would be doing. "What I'll be having you all do is very simple; you'll all be participating in a quirk assessment test. I'm going to be using this early examination of your skills to decide your placement in the class. There will be six tests in total, each of which will have an instance where at least one of you should be able to use your quirk to your advantage...at least, those of you who have one, anyway."

That last barb had Izuku's body locking up in apprehension.

It also seemed to confuse a number of the other students, as shown when the same red-head Izuku recalled from the entrance exams held his hand up. "Um, Mr. Aizawa, what are you talking about? Everyone in the Hero course _has_ a quirk; I mean, how else would they be in this class."

"That's what you'd think, but apparently even a quirkless loser like Deku is allowed into U.A. if he passes the entrance exams."

The cutting response didn't come from the lips of their homeroom teacher, but instead out of the mouth of a simmering Bakugou. The blonde owner of the _Explosion_ quirk had his mouth twisted into a ferocious snarl, and had jammed his angrily shaking fists into his pockets as he stared hatefully at Izuku. Everyone in class could see that Katsuki Bakugou did _not_ approve of his old classmate attending U.A.

There was a small ruckus brought on by the revelation that Izuku didn't have a quirk. A number of the students vocalized their disbelief; they couldn't believe that a normal human could have passed the practical exam. Others were angry, not to the degree of Bakugou, but still upset that the place where they were supposed to feel special was seemingly being invaded by those who simply...weren't. And then there were those few that looked at Izuku Midoriya with respect, and a little bit of amazement. That small number were also curious to see how their classmate would handle the assessment test.

However, before too much time could be given to the spectacle that was a quirkless student at U.A., Shota's voice cut through the chatter.

" _Alright_ , everyone be _quiet_." The man didn't raise his voice, but the firm resonance in his tone was enough to let every talking student know it was time to be silent.

"While it's true this has never happened before U.A. has no rule against a quirkless student from applying, let alone being accepted. This was done as a way to ensure the school couldn't be accused of biased though, so should young Midoriya prove less than capable during class he _will_ be expelled...just like any of you.

Which leads me back to the quirk assessment; the person to score the lowest will be ejected from the program immediately. These tests are to show me your potential, and if you show to have none then I don't see any point in keeping you around. Make no mistake; these tests are not a joke, so if you want to be in class tomorrow I suggest you give it everything you've got."

Mr. Aizawa's words were met with cries of indignation and calls of unfairness the moment he finished speaking.

One such student was Ochako.

"Y-You can't do that! We all only just got here, what gives you the right to just throw one of us out on the first day!?"

The worried but angry brunette would have kept going, but her teacher turned his cold gaze on her and Ochako immediately found herself unable to speak.

"The fact that I'm your teacher gives me the right, Ochako Uraraka, but if that's not enough then maybe the fact that I'm a Pro and know about what it's like in the real world will be. Do you think the power-hungry villains of the world care about your feelings; they won't be giving you a day off if your boyfriend breaks up with you, or your mother dies. Do you think a natural disaster, like a tsunami or category five hurricane cares about if your _ready_ for it or not; they'll come just the same, and tear apart everything some people know regardless of how prepared you are."

At this point Shota turned his gaze from just staring at Ochako, to sweeping across the entire class.

"When you're out there on patrol at night, and the cold winds or pelting rains are biting into your skin, there won't be anyone to coddle you. Mommy and Daddy aren't going to be bringing you any warm coco or snuggling with you under a blanket. _When_ , because I guarantee it's going to happen, you get hurt your parents won't be 'kissing it to make it better'; you may even have to continue fighting, possibly with broken bones. Don't _any_ of you think even for a second that being a Pro is easy, or that once you've made it that life will just get easier. Out in the field you all will be up against death itself, so while you are in _my_ class you'd better believe I'm going to treat every lesson like it's the real deal. Anyone who thinks they can't handle that had better say so now, because after today I won't say it again, I'll just tell you not to come back."

Izuku looked around at his classmates to gauge their reactions to Mr. Aizawa's words. What he saw was a variety of faces that ranged from Bakugo's unflinching scowl to Ochako's wide-eyed, frightened mask. His new friend's look was matched, to a less watery degree, by a majority of the other students though; they all looked disturbed. It came as little surprise however, as Izuku had once felt the same way. But he had already crossed that bridge...now it was time to see if Ochako could too.

In a passing thought though, as the other members of his class silently struggled with their fears and doubts, Izuku turned his dark-green gaze over to the other girl standing beside him. Asui looked much the same as when they had set foot onto the field. The slim girls form was hunched, with her weight settled onto the balls of her feet, and her hands hanging while her arms set at a ninety-degree angle; in his mind Izuku couldn't help compare it to the look a frog had before making a jump. However when he looked over her face the freckled teen couldn't help but notice that Asui didn't look the least bit bothered by what their teacher had just told them.

"You seem to be taking this all pretty easily Tsu," he whispered over to his friend.

Her answer shocked him.

"That's because I've already seen what he's talking about; my uncle Keru used to be a Pro. It's why I spent the weekend before school started with him."

Asui didn't say anything beyond that and Izuku didn't pry, but he did notice a flash of pain run through her features before they were schooled into their usually calm facade. Izuku wondered what that could have been about, but before he could make the offer to talk at lunch their instructor called out to Bakugou.

Holding up a softball, Shota instructed the blonde to step into the pitching circle he was standing beside. "I'm guessing you did this test during middle school, but for my assessment I want you to throw this softball as far as you can while actually using your quirk. The rest of the world wants to try and say that we are all equal, but anyone with quirk knows that's just not true anymore, and so to ask us to hold back is just an insult. Here at U.A. you will prove that you are special, and give it everything you've got in everything we do. There will be no allowances made for lesser students, and no restrictions put in play when asked to demonstrate your talents; the only thing we will ever ask is that you use non-lethal force against a fellow student."

Bakugou grinned wickedly at that news while taking the softball from Mr. Aizawa's hand. Stepping into the circle the blonde cast one last look over his shoulder, baring his teeth in a smug look to Izuku, before winding up and letting loose his strongest throw; this time though adding his quirk to the mix. A small, but powerful, compacted explosion fired from the boy's throwing hand sent his ball rocketing into the air and arching much farther than his traditional 67 meters.

When the ball finally dropped from the sky it was announced that Baku's had managed to clear 780 meters; over 2,500 ft.

The only person to beat Bakugou's throwing score had been Ochako, who used her _Zero-Gravity_ quirk to send the ball presumably into space, as her reading came back as infinity. Izuku placed fairly well himself, being one of the more physically fit in the class, with his score coming in 7th at 85 meters.

 _'275 feet, not bad, but apparently not good enough.'_ Izuku thought as they moved on to the next test, which was the 50 meter dash. _'I didn't expect there to be students like Ojiro or Shoji; I'll have to up my training then to help close that gap, even if only a little.'_

During the speed test Bakugou showed that his quirk wasn't just about power, and demonstrated the ability to boost his movement speed with it as well to earn a score of 4.2 seconds. However the blonde wasn't the only one to achieve an impressive score. Izuku watched as another student, this time a girl named Momo Yauyorozu, created a pair of roller skates and used them to achieve a score of 4.9 seconds. And then there was Shoto Todoroki, who the quirkless boy watched make a trail of ice to move across the finish line with a score of 4 seconds.

When it was his own turn, racing against Tenya Iida, Izuku didn't allow himself to be concerned with what his fellow classmate could no doubt do using the engines in his calves. Even when the race was called to begin, and the bespectacled boy literally rocketed past him, Izuku never lost focus. The freckle-faced teen pushed off with his right foot and pumped everything he had into his legs. His green eyes narrowed in fierce determination as he silently commanded himself to go faster, to not come in last, to prove that he could be just as good a hero without any sort of quirk.

" _5.60 seconds."_

The machine set at the finish line called out Izuku's score, and the result sent many of the other students brows raising into their hairlines. Because despite not having a quirk, Izuku had managed to place himself into the top five fastest in the class.

Yet as Izuku silently congratulated himself for breaking his old record, the young man knew that it still wasn't enough. With more tests to go, there was still a lot that could happen, and so many things that could go wrong.

Next was a grip strength test however, something that Izuku sighed inwardly at in relief. Surely he could place among the top here too? With all his physical training, part of which included weight lifting, how much further down the line could he be?

 _'Turns out I could come in 6_ _th_ _with 64kgs, just falling short of beating Kirishima's 65.6kgs. That guy, Rikido Sato's ability to enhance his strength with sugar is impressive, but from how sleepy he looks now I don't think he'll do so well on the next few challenges.'_ Izuku thought as he listened to Mr. Aizawa call out that their next assessment would be in the form of the side-step test.

With his years of training Izuku placed well above average, managing a score of 76.5 repetitions. This easily outclassed many of his fellow students, whose quirks did little for them in such a physically demanding test, but there were still those like Shoto and once again Katsuki who showed that their quirks could be used for more than just brute force. Both boys easily scored at least twice as high as Izuku in the same time constraint of one minute. Another surprise came when Tenya managed to use his own _Engine_ quirk to showcase a display of agility Izuku hadn't expected from the older boy.

 _'Sure Ingenium can do it, but I didn't expect this guy to already have such a handle on his quirk. Looks like he's taking this a little more seriously than some of the others in class.'_ As he thought this Izuku's eyes moved to the boy with spiky golden hair that seemed to enjoy poking at the girl with headphone jacks dropping from her ears. Denki Kamanari had shown very little in the way of versatility with his ability to conduct electricity, and only a slightly above-average aptitude for anything physical. His scores for the side step had just been enough to be considered 'fair.'

However there wasn't much time to dwell on that, because the next test was soon announced; this one being the mile run.

As he stood at the starting line, making sure to stretch his muscles in preparation for the test, Izuku looked over to his side to see Ochako once again lightening the weight of her clothes with the use of her quirk. Once she was finished, the petite brunette smiled brightly at her slightly taller friend and asked how he felt about the assessment.

"I think I'm doing alright myself; my softball throw should help keep me pretty in the middle. But what about you Deku? I haven't seen you use a single gadget this entire time, aren't you worried about coming in last?"

Izuku quirked an eyebrow at hearing the concerned girl use his old friend's insulting nickname, but before he could question it another voice spoke up behind him. "I thought you said your name was Izuku; why did she, and that other guy Bakugou, call you Deku?"

Turning so he could look the other person in the eye as he spoke Izuku found that the newcomer was actually Fumikage. The dark-feathered teen was staring at Izuku with a look of confusion, as well as consideration. As if he didn't know what to make of the wild-haired young man.

"Katsuki calls me 'Deku' as an insult, because as you've found out I have no actual quirk, and has done so ever since we were little. Ochaku must have thought it was a friendly nickname, which is why she just used it now."

While Fumikage hummed in understanding, Ochako flinched when she heard that the name she'd used was really meant to be demeaning. "Sorry about that Izuku; I just thought it sounded kinda cute. I-I'll try to remember that it's mean, can you forgive me?"

"It's okay," Izuku answered with a reassuring smile. "You didn't know, and besides, I've come to see it more like 'Dekiru'; which means 'I _can_ do it', rather than 'one who can't do anything'."

"That's very admirable, especially considering where you are right now." Was the very serious-looking Fumikage's response. The shorter boy continued with his inquiry by saying, "I never believed that someone without any sort of quirk could make it this far into the world of the Pro circuit; you are quickly becoming a very interesting person to watch Izuku Midoriya."

"He's definitely doing better than some of the others in class, and all just based off his own physical ability." This croaky response came from none other than Asui as she scuttled over to the threesome who had been talking. Izuku noticed that she was down on all fours though, which he quickly questioned out loud.

"I move faster like this; you didn't notice during the sprint earlier?"

Izuku's hand found itself running through his thick, dark locks as he gave an embarrassed chuckle. He actually hadn't seen. "Sorry Tsu, I-I kinda missed your run. I went to the bathroom after my turn, so I think you raced while I was away. I'd like to hear your score at lunch, if that's okay with you?"

Before the frog-girl could give any answer though Mr. Aizawa called out that it was time to begin the mile run. The black-clad pro informed the class that they were to run two laps around the track, and that each of their times would be recorded with the first person to finish obviously claiming the top spot.

Izuku quickly got into position to start, dropping low and settling into a sprinters stance. However before he dropped his hands the quirkless youth kissed both fingertips, touched them to the sides of his shoes, and then let them rest lightly on the track. Those standing around him only saw the challenging smirk that stretched across Izuku's face, and the way his legs tensed in preparation for the run.

When Shoto Aizawa called for the runners to begin Tenya Iida was easily able to capture and hold first place as he covered the distance in a matter of seconds. While that was taking place, Katsuki and Shoto claimed third and second respectively; the ice-user's quirk giving him just a small edge in speed over his blonde classmate. This left the last two spots in the top five up for grabs.

Izuku seemed to launch from his position on the track, gaining a quick lead over the other students as they began their own race. And while Tsu and Ochako were right on his heels, Izuku pushed himself to further the gap between them, his desire to win overtaking his worry for his friends own placement in the class. But it wasn't just the two girls Izuku found himself competing with.

Coming up on his left was Shoji. The usually four-armed boy now ran with four legs, and Izuku could see that the increased number of limbs easily gave the larger boy an advantage like it had in the grip-strength test. But Mezo Shoji wasn't the only one closing in on him, as Izuku saw Momo pass him using her skates...only this time with miniature boosters propelling her forward rather than her own speed.

 _'One spot left,'_ Izuku growled to himself as he realized that the top four were taken. _'That means I can't afford to lose to anyone else!'_

The fire that raged inside Izuku's chest spread throughout his whole body and gave the quirkless teen the determination to keep his top speed. All he had to do was outlast the others, move far enough ahead that if he were to tire it would still give him time to rest. With only one spot left, all Izuku had to do was _win_.

As he reached the halfway point victory seemed to be pulling away from him though, as his desire for victory overtook his usual rational approach to exercise. The desperate young high school student felt his lung begin to burn, and his muscles start to ache as he pushed beyond what seemed normal even for himself. The thought of failure had Izuku's temperature rising rapidly, and his heart beating erratically while sweat began to pour down his face and into his eyes.

Ochako had long since run out of breath, even without the weight of her clothes slowing her down the girl was still no long-distance runner, but both Mezo and Tsu still held pace with the frantic teen. And from the looks of it they weren't going to be slowing down.

This knowledge planted a small seed of fear into Izuku's heart. A fear that he hadn't ever truly known, and never wanted to feel again as he imagined being cut from the Hero course and failing to achieve his dream. That fear swelled deep inside him, twisting his stomach to the point Izuku truly believed he might throw up...but he held it in. He pushed the sick feeling down to the bottom of his stomach and grit his teeth to keep it there.

Fear wasn't going to get him what he wanted; being afraid wasn't going to make him a hero. The only way to achieve his dream was to win! And that could only happen if he made sure nothing stood in his way; not even himself.

So Izuku pushed himself, ran harder than he ever imagined was possible, and by two whole steps manged to finish the mile ahead of both Mezo Shoji and his friend Asui Tsuyu.

And _then_ he threw up.

The adrenaline dump that followed his victory over the other fifteen students in his class had Izuku Midoriya stumbling before dropping from his shaky legs, down to his knees, and throwing up everything he'd eaten that morning. Bracing himself against the track with arms that felt like lead weights, and shook like jello, Izuku continued to wretch even as he felt a comforting hand on his shoulder.

While the other students who had finished the rave were quick to move away from the hurling youth, Asui Tsuyu only saw that her new friend was suffering a hard time and needed help. The lithe owner of the _Frog-form_ quirk quickly shuffled over on all fours and began to attempt soothing the shivering teen by rubbing gentle circles on his back.

"You okay Izuku? Why did you push so hard if you knew this would happen?"

Izuku managed to choke back the next wave of vomit, only letting loose a series of dry heaves, before he answered. "I-I had t-to win Asui. T-There w-wasn't any oth-other option. _F-Failure_ is not an option."

Asui locked eyes with the young man beside her and could clearly see the conviction in his own dark-green orbs. It was there she could see it, the fierce belief in his eyes. He would let his body tear itself apart if it meant succeeding.

This determination frightened Asui Tsuyu; she had never known someone so driven. But her thoughts were put on hold when Ochako came cutting across the track to check on Izuku too; her own score being forgotten in light of her friend's abysmal state. Ochako quickly began crying out, asking questions at a rapid fire pace as she attempted to copy Asui's own action of rubbing her hand against the boy's back.

"Izuku, oh my gosh, are you okay!? W-What happened; one second you were finishing the race, the next I see you on the ground! Are you hurt, d-do you need to go to the hospital?"

"The damn nerd is fine; and even if he's not, it serves him right for trying to be something more than he is...a _loser_." Katsuki Bakugou sneered as he walked up to the trio on the ground. With one hand in his pocket, the straw-blonde reached down with his right and hauled Izuku to his feet. Keeping his fingers gripped tightly against the fabric of his former friend's gym uniform, Bakugou let him self get nose-to-nose with the sickly looking other boy. "Isn't that right, _Deku_?"

Even with his body wracking with the loss of adrenaline Izuku still managed to force his face into a look of loathing as he stared, unflinchingly, into his rival's crimson orbs. "You're right about one thing; I am fine. So you can let go of me now, _Ka-chan_."

Hearing his old nickname on Izuku's rancid breath set Katsuki's temper blazing. Before any of the other students standing around could react, Bakugou shot a fist into Izuku's stomach. In the other boy's weakened condition, Izuku had no chance of standing up to an attack he normally would have had no problem taking, so the green-haired youth found himself stumbling backward and tripping over his own feet.

As he fell back on his butt, Izuku still kept his eyes locked with the blonde's own, and even managed a defiant smirk from his place on the track.

By now a number of other students had finished the mile run and were watching the pair with interest. This audience did not go unnoticed by Katsuki though, and he seethed at the thought of his old nickname getting around. No one would fear, or respect him if they found out he had once gone by such a ridiculous name!

"What the hell did you just say? Don't you _ever_ use that name again you damn nerd, or else next time I'll tear you apart!" Katsuki was just about to unleash a warning shot, his right hand was raised and ready to rain down a minute explosion as a scare tactic, but he soon found his whole body being restrained by...tape?

"That's _enough_ Bakugou."

All the other students who had finished the race, and even some who had stopped on the track to watch, looked on as their teacher used the wraps around his neck to hold their raging blonde classmate in place.

While Bakugou attempted to free himself, the wily blonde suddenly called out. "Hey! What the hell's going on; why can't I use my quirk!"

This revelation alarmed many of the other students who heard him, but for Izuku it just fit the final piece into the puzzle that was Shota Aizawa. Looking over at the lanky older hero, Izuku noticed the way his eyes were glowing and heaved out his discovery. "Y-You're the Pro-Hero 'Eraser-Head'; the one with the ability to cancel out other people's quirks."

"That's right kid, and if I hadn't just done it to your friend here we'd probably be scraping you off the track. How about next time you feel like being tough, you wait until after class so it won't be my problem? As for you, Katsuki, I'm gonna need you to calm down; you've got one of the highest scores so far, so I don't even understand why you're bothering to get upset. Whatever your personal problem is with young Midoriya needs to wait until the assessment is finished, because if this happens again you'll _both_ be going home no matter what your score is at the end of the day. I don't have time to waste catering to children, so grow up or get lost."

With his warning in place, Shota Aizawa let go of his blonde student and turned to finish watching the remaining racers. Seeing that some of them had stopped he quickly shouted for them to get moving, or risk receiving zero points for the test.

 _ **xXx**_

After a few more tests which included a wall climb, sit-ups, and an obstacle course Izuku's class made it to the final portion of the quirk assessment.

"Your final test will be the standing long-jump; a fairly simple test, but still one where some of you will no doubt outshine your classmates. As I mentioned earlier this morning though, that is the whole point of this assessment. I want to see just how powerful each of you are right now, so that I can gauge how far you still have left to go. As with the other tests, since he scored highest in the practical entrance exam, Bakugou will be going first. From there it'll be as I call you."

Izuku watched from his crouched position on the field as his former friend moved into position. His keen eyes narrowed as the straw-blonde coiled up like a spring before launching himself into the air. Katsuki made it a fair distance, to be sure, but Izuku found it to no surprise this time that the haughty teen then used his quirk to propel himself further through the air. It was easy to see that the middle school bully would easily place in the top five yet again, thanks to the versatility of his _Explosion_ quirk. Following this was once again the ice-user Shoto Todoroki, who used his ice much in the same way Bakugou had used his own power, and propelled himself into first place much to Katsuki's ire.

The quirkless Izuku watched as both his friends used their own quirks to secure high scores to help settle Tsu into the middle of the pack and Ochaku taking the lead, while the boy Tenya made work of his own special ability to keep himself in the top five.

As the other teens in his class went ahead of him, Izuku felt the knot in his stomach grow tighter. He had a plan for how to handle this last test, but it would only work if he could turn his teachers own words to his advantage. So, as his name was finally called, Izuku stepped up to the line and listened as Mr. Aizawa told him to jump when he was ready.

There was a nervous energy buzzing throughout his body that Izuku could easily feel as he took in a number of deep breaths. It charged him from the hairs on his head to the tips of his toes, and made him feel as if any second now his tongue would explode in his mouth. This was the last test; his last chance to score well. It was now, or never.

Remembering his training, Izuku gave it no more thought. All his doubt, all his worries, and all of his fears were shoved down into a box and locked away as he pushed off from the ground and leaped into the air. Once he was off the ground though Izuku's mind kicked into overdrive; he had to time this just right or it wouldn't work. He let himself fly over the sand that made up the landing pad for those without a quirk to extend their jump, mentally calculating that he had overtaken some of his other classmates already. But that wasn't enough.

Then, just as he felt gravity starting to take hold again, Izuku reached down and tapped the sides of his shoes. The trim turned a neon-blue, and pulsed with energy before a small but powerful burst of stored energy shot out from the heels. This boosted Izuku into a second arch and carried him well past the landing spots of both Momo as well as the slightly recovered Rikido Sato, and into fifth place where the two had been tied. When his feet finally hit the ground Izuku stumbled a bit because he hadn't fully tested his newest piece of equipment, but managed to regain hit footing quickly enough to not fall on his face.

If one were to look at the screen that held Izuku's reading, they would find that he had managed a long-jump of 15.5 meters; 50.8ft.

With his heart beating heavy in his chest, the wild-haired teen turned to look at his classmates. What he saw were faces varying from shock, to anger, to disbelief.

And, much like the old days, it was Bakugou who chose to open his mouth first.

"What the hell was that!? This is a test to measure quirks, not test out some stupid toy, there's no way that counts; you used outside help!"

There was a time when Katsuki Bakugou's anger would send Izuku huddling into his shell, but those days were long past, and now all the straw-blonde managed to do was stoke the fires of his former friend's own intense emotions.

"Last time I checked Mr. Aizawa said that these test were meant to show that not everyone is created equal Katsuki; to me that means anything goes, which means my gadgets _are_ allowed. Besides,if we're supposed to do everything in our power to score bog on the assessment I don't see what's so wrong with me using my ability to be prepared to boost my numbers, isn't that right Mr. Aizawa?"

Shota wouldn't say it, but he wasn't happy with the way Izuku had twisted his words around to allow for the use of his toys. But knowing that taking his word back now would get him into trouble with the principal, the lanky hero decided to bite the bullet and allow for the quirkless boy to have his victory.

"As much as it'll pain you to hear this Bakugou, he's right, I did say that. However, with this issue now out in the open I'm going to need to know when you actually put those shoes on and what they do Midoriya."

Izuku really didn't like the thought of giving away the workings of one of his tools, but having been given a direct order, the young teen knew that unless he wanted to start anymore trouble he would need to answer or risk trouble.

"I put them on after my turn at the 50 meter dash, when I went to the bathroom; before coming back to the field I ran to the locker room and changed my shoes. The shoes themselves store kinetic energy, which can be released when I press the buttons on the sides, resulting in the boost you all just saw. And while I want you to know I'm saying this with no disrespect, there wasn't actually anything in your rules that said I couldn't use my gadgets Mr. Aizawa. You only said to come at these tests with everything we had, so that's what I did."

The ragged-looking Pro stared at his quirkless student for a moment that felt like days to Izuku, before sighing and reaching up the massage his aching temples.

"While I understand that some of you may not like this, Izuku Midoriya is right. There was, nor has there ever been, a rule against what he did today. And while that's mainly due to the fact that no normal person has ever even thought to attempt it, that doesn't matter, so if you'll all follow me I'll be showing you the results for the quirk aptitude test."

Izuku returned to the crowed that was Class 1-A and joined them as they followed Mr. Aizawa to the holographic score board. Once everyone was able to see, the lithe teacher pressed a button on his remote and a list appeared; at the top, in the number one spot, was Shoto Todoroki. In a close second came Katsuki Bakugou, with Tenya Iida coming in third.

As he let his eyes move down the list Izuku was proud to see his two friends settled quite nicely in the middle of the pack. However his apprehension increased the farther down he was forced to look for his own name. While the quirkless teen hadn't expected to place within the top ten, the fact that he wasn't in the top fifteen was disconcerting.

And then he saw it. There, settled next to the number sixteen spot, was his name. Izuku Midoriya had escaped the dread of last place by four whole positions. While none of his individual scores were radically high, compared to the top students, the quirkless hero-in-training knew that together they were all enough to outdo those whose quirks held no advantage during the series of tests Mr. Aizawa had given out.

With his place in the class secure, Izuku allowed himself a small sigh a relief. The hard part of day one as officially over, as class would be ending soon, and with only Basic Hero Law being held after lunch the tired young teen knew that he could finally relax a little.

 _'But only for today,'_ Izuku thought adamantly. _'Because I have no idea what tomorrow will bring, so I'll have to be ready for anything.'_

 _ **xXx**_

 _ **A/N: I'm gonna say this right off the bat: I really don't like the way I closed out that chapter. It felt very flat to me. Unfortunately I could not think of a better way to word it, so I'll just leave it as it is for now.**_

 _ **Anyway, just so everyone knows who Izuku placed above, here's the list:**_

 **Kaminari (Electric-shock quirk)**

 **Jiro (Earphone-jack)**

 **Mineta (Kid with the grape-head)**

 **Hagakure (Invisible girl)**

 _ **When I looked at the people who placed above Izuku I honestly couldn't believe it. How had the invisible girl outdone him during the assessment? Even without using OFA I feel like Izuku would still physically outperform her at least. I suppose you could make some kind of argument for the others like Kaminari, but I also didn't see how Earphone-jack outclassed Izuku for any other reason than plot point.**_

 _ **Now this isn't me saying these characters are trash or anything like that, because I actually like Earphone-jack, and think Kaminari's quirk is cool if you take away the drawback. I just don't understand how she and the invisible girl outdid an Izuku who underwent all that training.**_

 _ **In my story I guess the question is a little moot though, since my Izuku had had YEARS of physical training and practice as opposed to ten months. Also, like I mention, the placement is decided by your over-all score. So while getting one really high score helps, managing an above average score in every event would place you well above last place if those under you didn't manage to stand out themselves.**_

 _ **To further explain, the reason Izuku beat Mezu in the race is once again because of his physical training. Because while his Dupli-arms quirk allows him to replicate body parts, and therefore increase their strength and effectiveness, if he creates too many copies they actually become weaker. Also, muscle strength does not mean the same thing as over-all physical endurance. Mezu could run fast, but was forced to pace himself much more often than Izuku. As for his sprint test, I don't feel very many of the students are actually very fast. An example would be Ochako's inner-monologue of how her time on the assessment was faster than the one she received in middle school, meaning at her normal level without using her quirk she is probably about average for her age or even slightly below it.**_

 _ **If you look at the actual, official placement for everyone in class you'll see that Momo actually placed first, which honestly baffled me. Again, not saying she bad or her quirk is low-tier, I just don't see how it would award her high enough points on the majority of the tests. Also, I was surprised to find Fumikage in fifth, for the same reasons. His quirk along with his own intellect make him one of, if not possibly the strongest, person in the class but I can't see how it would aid him in any of the tests that were given out.**_

 _ **Technically, while the assessment was meant to show off quirks, each exercise is originally used to determine feats of physical prowess. So I feel like, unless you have a quirk that enhances those stats, you wouldn't do very well.**_

 _ **And before anyone mentions it, I know about Fumikage's ability to 'wear' Dark Shadow to augment his physical abilities, but I just don't feel like he would divulge such a secret and powerful technique so openly.**_

 _ **I tried to show more of Izuku's own inner thoughts about what's going on around, as well as inside, himself. So I'm curious to know how I did. I also did actual research for the tests that were talked about during this chapter, whose records and averages I tried to take into account when dealing out scores. I have no doubt there are some that people will find a bit beyond what Izuku should be scoring, but again I want to try and hammer home the fact that Izuku has been training specifically to be a Pro from a very young age. This means that I feel like Izuku would be an exceptionally talented individual. Also, since the series technically takes place in the future, it's plausible that any current world records would have been broken by this time and technically make Izuku's accomplishments non-Olympic level.**_

 _ **If anyone is wondering about the whole bus scene near the beginning; those two numbers are buses I myself have taken regularly, so I just used those because I knew them personally.**_

 _ **Anyway, this note feels like its getting long, so I'll cut it off here. If there's anything I forgot, or you guys feel I need to change or work on, please let me know.**_

 _ **Lastly, I'm hoping you guys can start giving me hero name suggestion, because I don't intend on having Izuku call himself Deku. I've already got a costume for him planned out, but I'm having a little trouble with the name. I don't actually want to use another character's name like Nightwing or Phantom Dark, but I personally just can't seem to come up with one. Really hope you guys can help me out with this.**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**My Quirkless Hero!**_

 _ **Ch. 4- First blood**_

 _ **xXx**_

Izuku awoke for his second day of class at U.A. with a twist in his gut. And as he swung himself out of bed and went through his daily routine that feeling only intensified; it both worried, as well as excited the freckled teen. It meant that his second day was going to be a memorable one.

As he boarded both the bus, and then the train, Izuku was a little downtrodden to find he was riding it alone that morning. However he brightened upon remembering that he would see his friends in class.

It was as he was readying to cross the street that he noticed a familiar dark head of hair; or rather feathers, as he caught sight of Fumikage. Making quick work of the walk across the intersection, Izuku strode over to the bird-headed student and gave a polite greeting.

"Hello Fumikage, I hope you've had a good morning."

The teen in question turned to answer, giving a nod to affirm his words. "I have; my early morning training went better than I'd expected, and my breakfast came out particularly well. Am I safe in assuming you yourself have been having a pleasant day?"

Izuku gave a nod of his own, adding in a hum of agreement before the pair came to the elevator that would take them to their class's floor. But then the dark-haired teen's face took on a sheepish mask as he held up the syllabus they'd picked up yesterday. "Although, knowing that the first half of our day is going to be spent taking normal classes is a bit of drag don't ya think?"

"In a way I suppose you're right, however you have to remember that the curriculum is set up by an education board; one that's completely comprised of non-quirk holders. This was done to help give them a sense of power, in a world where they are otherwise powerless...present company excluded of course."

"Which is a big part of why I'm doing this," Izuku tacked on. "To show everyone around the world that it doesn't take a flashy quirk to do the right thing, and that being normal doesn't make you powerless."

Fumikage could only give a hum of his own as a response, but nodded to let his fellow U.A. student know he understood his dream. By this time the pair had reached their classroom and moved to their seats.

As he sat down though, Izuku felt a number of different eyes trained on him. One gaze in particular was nothing new; he'd long since become accustomed to Katsuki's harsh glares. The rest of the looks though intrigued the green-haired youth, as they ranged from more harsh staring to simply looks of curiosity. It was the beginning of the assessment test all over again.

Only this time, Izuku wasn't going to just sit and take it.

"If you all have something you wish to say to me, I suggest just coming straight out with it. Because whether some of you like it or not, I'm here...and I'm _staying_."

What started as a calm, polite introduction ended in a low growl as Izuku let his own harsh stare meet and lock with each and every person who'd been staring at him. The teen's dark, emerald gaze swept the room with the same message for everyone: either say to his face, or keep your opinion to yourself.

Izuku had dealt with more than enough of these types of attitudes during his earlier years, and had taken it in stride by looking at it as training. But now, that he was a student at U.A.? Those days were over.

The harsh look on the teen's face softened a slight degree when the voice of Tenya Iida met his ear.

"I think some of us are just a little... _shocked_ , Midoriya. As I'm sure you are aware, you are the first student to enter U.A.'s Hero course without a quirk. And to top it off, you now hold the number sixteen spot in the whole class; coming out on top of students who _do_ have a quirk. For some of us it's simply just hard to believe, so I hope you'll forgive our staring."

"Your curiosity isn't the problem Tenya; it's other people's animosity. I know there are people in this class who don't think I belong here, but those same people need to understand that I don't care. They can be as mad as they want, but unless I fail, which I _wont_ , I'm not going anywhere. Besides, what kind of hero behaves that way; actually wanting someone else to fail? That doesn't sound very heroic to me, now does it?"

Izuku's shot didn't just strike at Tenya, who couldn't help from flinching from the truth of those words, but all around the room students were dropping their heads or averting their eyes in shame.

All except for one.

Bakugou's harsh, crimson gaze didn't waver. Instead it only intensified, and the only thing holding his tongue back was the threat made by Mr. Aizawa the last time he'd attempted to pick a fight. Because while the shaggy Pro did turn around and call out that his threat to drop the number twenty spot wasn't true, Katsuki had no doubt in his mind that the man would indeed expel a student if they continuously disobeyed his orders.

But that didn't mean Bakugou couldn't glare.

The heat of his old friend's rage burned Izuku's back through the beginning of homeroom, until Mr. Aizawa told him to knock it off, but the straw-blonde was right back to it for the remainder of their basic studies.

The fire was only quelled by the sound of the lunch bell, when Izuku rose from his seat and walked over to Asui who sat towards the back of the class. He made sure to put enough tables between Katsuki and himself so that the blonde couldn't snub him without going out of his way; it paid off when the _Explosion_ user scoffed before exiting the classroom.

"What's Bakugou's deal Izuku?" Ochako wondered as she walked up to her friends. "Why does he hate you so much?"

Izuku's response was to sigh. "That's a...long story Ochako. One I don't really feel like getting into right now, so I'd appreciate if you'd let it go."

The petite brunette looked at the boy beside her with surprised, chocolate-brown eyes before muttering out a reply. "O-Oh, um, alright Izuku. Are you and Tsu ready to head out now?"

"I was ready the minute the bell rang," the frog-like girl answered. "But then you asked Izuku about Bakugou so I had to wait Ochako."

Ochako's already pink cheeks colored a little darker as she rubbed her head in embarrassment. "Oops, sorry about that Tsu. Let's go then."

The trio made it down to the cafeteria without any issue, and each were soon seated with trays of food that looked as if it had been ordered from one of the better restaurants I town. Izuku soon learned from Tsu that this was due to the school's chef; a robot designed to create nearly gourmet meals for the students.

Each of them ate in relative silence for a time before Ochako decided to ask about how they thought the second half of classes would go.

"Well, we've got Hero 101 directly after this, so that could really be anything." Tsu answered. "Remember yesterday though, it was Hero Law with Thirteen, so why the change?"

Izuku answered this time. "I think it was because Hero 101 is primarily a physical class; things like mock battles or other simulations. And after a quirk assessment we wouldn't have performed very well, so they started us with Hero Law instead. Or at least, that's what makes sense to me."

The pair sitting across from him mulled over the dark-haired boy's words a moment before offering their vocal agreements, as neither could think of a better explanation.

"So then you think we'll be fighting today Izuku?" Ochako questioned.

Shrugging, Izuku answered. "I can't see why not; it's better to start sooner rather than later after all. And we all could use the practice, right?"

"How do you think _you'll_ do?" Asui broached the subject through a bite of her lunch. "Against some of the other kids in class I mean; a few of them have some pretty impressive quirks Izuku."

"Well, I watched each of the other students during the assessment, and got a pretty good idea of how their abilities work. Unfortunately, since I've never actually had to fight any of them, I don't know how they incorporate their powers into their fighting style...let alone just what type of style each of them might use."

"So in other words; you don't know." Asui finished for him.

Izuku chuckled lightly at his friend's straight answer. "I guess so, although with the use of my gadgets I think I'll do fine. Since I'm sure most of the class has never even seen some of my weapons, let alone know how to deal with them. I'll just have to use that to my advantage."

"The good old 'element of surprise' huh?" Ochako chimed in excitedly. "That sounds so cloak and dagger Izuku, but I think it fits for you. I can't wait to see you in action for real."

The time for that came sooner than any of them thought, as when the lunch bell rang again and they all returned to class everyone was shocked to find All Might coming in after them.

"I am here; coming through the door like a hero!" The spiky blonde greeted the class in a booming voice. The burly Pro strode purposefully over to his desk, dressed head to toe in a bright red and blue spandex costume complete with a flowing blue cape.

Izuku watched from his seat as his former idol entered the room, and listened as everyone else in class gushed and swooned at the man's mere presence. Leaning into his steepeled fingers, the freckled teen couldn't help shuddering as he recalled how he used to be as a child.

 _'But surely I wasn't THIS bad...right?'_

But before he could berate himself any further, All Might opened his mouth to speak, so Izuku pushed those thoughts to back of his mind and opened his ears to listen.

"Welcome students, to the most important class at U.A.; Hero 101. It is in this class that you will all not only learn the basics of what it means to be a Pro-Hero, but also what it means to fight in the name of good. So, without further interruption, let's get into it!"

Izuku watched as the world's most popular hero moved from behind his desk, ad wound up as if getting ready to let loose a killer pitch...only to thrust out an index card with the word 'Battle' printed in bold letters.

"Today's first lesson will pull no punches!" The blonde hero announced, his cape swirling around him in a flurry of motion. "Our first lesson is going to be a full-on combat training exercise!"

This news brought cheers and excited chatter as each and every other student in class began to bubble with anticipation. From his seat Izuku turned to glance at both Tsu as well as Ochako before shrugging and giving them a sheepish grin. 'Lucky guess', he mouthed much to the pair's amusement.

All Might wasn't done yet though, and in another grand display motioned towards a number of briefcases that were soon seen sliding out from the side wall. "But before we can begin you all must be reminded of one of the most important rules to being a hero: LOOKING GOOD!

Each of you sent in measurements and costume ideas with your entry forms for U.A. Well, we here at this prestigious academy have taken the liberty of crafting each and every costume to your specifications! So please, accept these gifts with pride, and I'll see all of you down at the testing grounds once you're ready."

With that, All Might exited the room in just as much a dramatic fashion as he entered, and the class soon followed to change in the locker rooms.

However, Izuku didn't miss the way All Might's eyes strayed to him as the man rounded the corner.

 _ **xXx**_

Izuku made sure he was the last one out. The dark-haired teen wanted everyone to watch him as he entered, so that they could all look upon him and his hero costume.

The soft clacking of his black, steel-toed boots were the first indication that Izuku was coming, and it drew the attention of both Asui and Ochako. With the two girl's turning their heads, Katsuki let his own crimson orbs follow their lead. From there, it was like a wave as the class followed the fiercely-dressed blonde's gaze.

What greeted them was a figure dressed all in black. From his sleeveless hoodie and boots, to the skintight spandex bodysuit that molded itself to the teen's strong physique. Each muscle looked as if it had been carved from stone, yet the owner of the body moved with a fluid grace that resembled that of a prowling jungle cat. Izuku's hood was up, covering his wild hair enough that only his bangs could be seen, with a gun-metal gray mouthpiece with holes for breathing settled over the lower-half of his face. His hands were once again clothed in finger-less gloves, only this time they were more like gauntlets, reaching up to just below his elbow; these too were a gun-metal gray. Around his waist was Izuku's utility belt, whose compartments each held an unknown gadget, with his trusty grappling gun holstered against his lower back.

And while all of this made for an intimidating figure, it was Izuku's eyes that caught everyone's attention. Because in place of the teen's dark emerald orbs, the class was met by a domino mask whose white lenses seemed to stare coldly through each and every one of them.

Izuku looked out through his special lenses, taking in the colorful and outlandish costumes worn by a number of his fellow U.A. students before he spoke. However, thanks to his mouthpiece, the teen knew his voice would come out in a guttural sort of growl...just the way he wanted.

"Well, Mr. All Might, I think that makes all of us. How about we get started?"

With his entrance made Izuku calmly strode over to his two friends, his masked eyes taking in both of their costumes in more detail. While Tsu's held a little more breathing room, though not by much, Ochako's was skintight much like Izuku's own; a fact he could tell made the girl a bit uncomfortable.

"I see you both framed yours around your quirks; Tsu like a frog, Ochako like an astronaut. Very clever, and both were very well put together. I definitely think you two have some of the better costumes in class."

His words were met with two beaming smiles of gratitude before Asui spoke up about his own costume. "You went very...dark Izuku. Why is that?"

Chuckling lightly at her curious expression, something about the way she poked her tongue out always seemed to get him, Izuku gave his answer. "While normally I'd explain, since we're about to start battle training I think it'd be best for me to start keeping some secrets; even from you Tsu."

The girls response was to blow raspberry at her male friend before they were drawn back to class by All Might's voice.

"As young Midoriya said, with you all here it's time to begin! As I'm sure you're all aware, this is the very same mock city where you took your practical entrance exam. However, instead of a repeat of that exam I'm going to be moving you all two steps ahead.

Most of the battles you've all no doubt seen were shown to be outdoors, where news cameras can easily capture footage of what's going on, but statistically speaking more than half of a Pro's job is done _indoors_. Secret lairs, home invasion, robberies, all of these are done out of sight of most cameras. So, for this exercise, you will all be split into pairs and fight two-on-two indoor battles; one team will act as the heroes while the other plays the villains!"

"This training sounds a little advanced for a class of first years," Asui claimed out loud. Sure, she had been given training by her uncle Keru, but the frog girl was still a little weary of having to actively fight against her fellow classmates so soon.

All Might's response was short and to the point. "Possibly, but the best training is what you get on the battlefield."

His next words were a little more explanatory however. "But you all need to remember; you're not just punching robots this time. Instead, you'll be duking it out with actual people; your classmates at that. However the scenario I'll be giving you is a fairly simple one.

The villains will be in possession of a nuclear weapon, fake of course, and will be hold up on the top floor. The heroes will have a limited time to either recover the weapon or capture the villains; likewise, if the heroes take too long or are captured the villain team wins."

It was Tenya who asked the next question, his hand raised to speak. "And just how will you be splitting us up Sir? Will it be based on our performances in the assessment from yesterday or some sort of combination of scores based on our entrance exams?"

All Might's answer shocked Tenya, of that Izuku had no doubt, but the reasoning behind it was sound.

"You'll all be drawing lots; your team will be random, and there will be no trading."

In his own mind Izuku quickly deduced that they were being paired this way because Pros often arrived on the scene of a crime with no knowledge of what other hero might already be there, so they have to form an on the spot team to combat the threat.

Izuku was fine with this...so long as he wasn't paired with Katsuki that is.

When it was finally his turn to draw, Izuku reached into the box that All Might was holding and shuffled the strips of paper remaining around before taking one out. Unfolding the slip, Izuku looked down at the letter printed on the scrap; A.

Looking around, Izuku was surprised to see who his partner would be. It was Fumikage.

"It seems I'll be the first to see you in action up close, Izuku Midoriya. I hope we can work well together and succeed." The cloaked teen greeted as he held out a gloved hand.

Izuku reached his own hand out, and firmly shook the offered one with a firm grip. "So do I; and I hope, by the end, I'll have gained a new ally too."

Fumikage's response was simply, "We'll see."

From there the rest of the students were paired up, and the class was taken over to the building that would serve as their testing ground. It was a multi-story complex, like one used for an office building or possibly apartments, and looked to be hollowed out which meant there wouldn't be much in terms of cover aside from what the walls would offer.

As they stood outside listening to All Might explain how the teams would be pitted against each other Izuku took that time to further examine the building itself. His dark eyes traversed the entire length of the sturdy-looking complex, finding the fire escape on the right side as well as what looked like a service entrance right below that.

 _'Which makes this a replica of an office building; meaning the rooms inside will be large to have accommodated cubicle sharing, rather than the walled off rooms of an apartment. The structural integrity might even be a little sturdier than an apartment's too, but that'll have to be seen during our test.'_

Izuku's musings were cut short when All Might pulled two lots from the boxes marked 'Hero' and 'Villain'; teams A and D.

Emerald eyes immediately shot over to lock with the heated gaze of his former friend. So, he was up against Bakugou in the first match? This was going to be fun.

Both Fumikage and Izuku were soon standing outside the building meant to be their testing area, being made to wait five minutes before entering to give Bakugou and Tenya time to corroborate a strategy. Deciding to try their own hand at this, Izuku relayed his own ideas to his cloaked partner.

"So based on what you've told me about your quirk, I think our best bet would be to use your darker clothes to our advantage inside, and then strike at Katsuki when his guard is down. Having gone to school with him for so long, I know how he thinks, and there's no way he'll actually bother making a strategy with Tenya. Instead, I'm positive he's already started stalking the halls and is waiting to try an ambush us. I'll use myself as bait to draw him out, and distract him long enough for you to get into a position where we can take him out. From there, I think it'd be best if I handled Tenya while you grab the weapon."

Fumikage listened, and from the look on his face it was clear that he agreed with Izuku's plan, but once the hooded teen reached the end and explained his intention to battle Tenya alone Fumikage felt he needed to speak up.

"Not to sound doubtful, but are you sure you'll be able to handle him by yourself? His ' _Engine'_ quirk makes him unbelievably fast, as I'm sure you are aware, not to mention agile. Are you sure you'll be able to distract him long enough for me to reach the weapon?"

Izuku's response was given with a soft chuckle; the echo given off by his mouthpiece slightly unnerving Fumikage. "I appreciate your concerns Fumikage, but trust me when I say Tenya's speed won't be a problem."

That was all the reassurance allowed however, because soon after he said that the P.A. system crackled to life and All Might announced that they were free to begin.

Getting started immediately, the dark pair made their way over to the fire escape Izuku had noticed during his inspection. Once they were positioned correctly the quirkless boy moved to wrap his arm around his partner's waist, before pulling out his grappling hook and firing it up at the railing of the escape. Pressing firmly on the retraction button on the butt of his gun, and making sure Fumikage wouldn't fall, Izuku lifted them both into the air at great speed before depositing them in the middle of the metal staircase.

The chipped, faded paint may have given the section an aged look, but once his feet were planted firmly in place Izuku realized that it was just that; a facade. The fire escape was actually supremely stable, and showed no real signs of wear and tear other than its paint job.

Silently the two dark-clad students made their way through the first window in their reach, and once inside were quick to move through the halls with steady, silent steps. For Fumikage it was a bit of a challenge, as he'd not had much in the way of stealth training himself, but Izuku could see that the feather-headed teen was sharp, as he proved to be able to copy the hooded boy's technique fairly well in just a few short minutes. Not nearly as well as Izuku, but certainly well enough to accomplish their goal.

Their trek was quiet and the air was still, if a bit stale. With the only light coming from the windows, the halls were bathed in shadow and both Izuku and his partner seemed to shift through the corridors rather than walk, as if they were made purely from the darkness.

From her place inside the observation deck Asui watched the monitor that housed the image of her friend closely, with Ochako right by her side. The two girls unknowingly took short, rapid breaths as they watched Izuku and his partner make their way up the testing area. For Asui, who had a pretty good read on the situation between the freckled teen and his blonde rival, she couldn't help worrying that Bakugou might try and take the exercise too far. _'Even if All Might said he would step in, there's to telling what Katsuki might do to Izuku before he reaches them.'_

Unfortunately, with the observation area so far away, and being so high up, the fretful ' _Frog-Form'_ owner knew she could do nothing but hope her friend would be okay.

 _'Maybe they won't even cross paths,'_ Asui tried to think optimistically. _'Maybe Izuku and Tokoyami will be able to reach the objective before Bakugou finds them-'_

This train of thought was cut short when, on the same screen, Izuku could be seen peering around the corner at a furious looking Bakugou.

 _'Or they just might find each other minutes into the exercise.'_ Asui finished dryly.

 _ **xXx**_

Back inside the the testing area Izuku had known all along where he was leading Fumikage, so when he peered around the corner to see his old childhood friend stalking the halls it came as no surprise. Because, what no one outside of himself and the developers of his costume knew, was that the lenses in his domino mask had been fitted with a sonar function that could be activated through a button on the side, close to his ear. And while the quality wasn't the best, Izuku having specified that he wanted more of his budget to spent on the durability of his uniform than anything, the special lenses were still more than enough to track an amateur hero like Bakugou.

With their first target now in his sights Izuku motioned back to Fumikage with his left hand, using signals to let the cloaked teen know their was danger up ahead. His next signal was the one he'd shown the shadow user that would mean it was time for the feather-headed boy to hide.

Wordlessly, Fumikage almost melted back into the shadows; pulling up his own hood to help conceal his startling crimson orbs. It wouldn't do to have their opponent notice such an obvious feature after all.

Making sure his partner was well and truly hidden from sight Izuku pulled a small pellet from a pouch on the side of his belt, and flicked it with practiced ease over towards Bakugou's feet. The marble-sized device bounced only once before exploding in a flash of blinding light; Izuku having warned Fumikage ahead of time that he'd be opening with a flash pellet being the only reason he wasn't worried about blinding his partner.

Hearing his blonde foe cry out in disarray and confusion, Izuku rushed from his place around the corner to engage the other boy in close combat. Closing the distance swiftly, the hooded teen opened with a strong shot to the stomach. With the breath knocked out of his opponent now, Izuku quickly skirted around his opponent's hunched form and opted for an attempt at a sleeper hold.

The tactic failed though, like he'd expected, as Bakugou instantly started to thrash about at the feeling of being manhandled. Explosions flared violently from his palms, and he swung his muscular arms in wide arcs to sweep at the obvious threat to his person. Finally, a growl rumbled through the blonde's throat as he called out to his blurry foe.

"Rah! You damned _nerd_ ; that was a cowardly move and you know it! What's the matter, too scared to face me head on!? Just wait until I can see you again; I'm gonna _roast you_!"

But these threats did nothing to frighten Izuku, who stood settled into a steady boxing stance. His plan worked, and now Katsuki Bakugou was completely focused on him, which meant that once he gave the signal Fumikage would use Dark Shadow to take the blonde out.

The hooded teen wasn't made to wait much longer, as the flash pellet was meant purely for quick take downs and didn't last very long.

Once the straw-blonde could see again however, Izuku could easily make out the almost animalistic rage that not only radiated from his eyes, but _pulsed_ off the seething boy in waves. Katsuki's knuckles popped with how tightly he held his own gauntlet-covered fists, and Izuku could easily make out the way his opponent's body was tensing in preparation for combat. With the sonar in his lenses switched off now, it was easy for the trained martial artists to read the blonde in front of him, and watch as Bakugou's body moved before the blonde even realized he was doing it himslef.

In all his years of studying the various heroes around the world Izuku had also included Katsuki in his notes; the blonde's especially powerful quirk, and adamant declarations that he would become an even bigger hero than All Might giving Izuku all the incentive he needed to take as many notes on his old friend as possible. This included Bakugou's fighting style.

And so, it was with sharp eyes that the black-clad student watched his adversary push off with his back foot and rush forward to attack...his right arm angled for the right hook Izuku already knew was coming. And that's why, to not only Bakugou's, but to everyone else watching, shock the quirkless boy easily caught the raging blonde's opening attack.

Taking no time to gloat, or bask in the victorious feeling that came with knowing his studies weren't in vane, Izuku seamlessly followed through with his catch by swiveling on the balls of his feet to strongly plant his hip into Bakugou's waist, and then prove his muscles weren't just for show by effortlessly bringing the costumed blonde over his broad shoulder and slamming him into the floor.

From his place on his back Katsuki let out a harsh gasp as the immense pain from his impact shot through his body. Spittle spewed from his open mouth as a breathless shout of agony attempted to make itself known; instead coming out as nothing but a pathetic wheezing.

In Katsuki Bakugou's pain riddled mind only one thought echoed around in his head:

 _'WHEN THE HELL DID THIS BASTARD GET SO STRONG!?'_

Shock quickly gave way to anger though, and the pain brought on by his rival's opening counter-attack was shoved violently to the back of the blonde's mind. Gritting his teeth to further fight back the agony Bakugou couldn't keep the cry of surprise from his lips as he watched Izuku's gauntlet-covered fist racing down to meet him. Reacting mostly on instinct the downed fighter jerked over onto his side to avoid having his face pummeled before pressing his gloved hands firmly into the floor, and swinging his leg around in a sweeping kick.

When his retaliation failed Bakugou didn't let it get to him, instead he simply activated his quirk and used the concussive force to move him out of range of Izuku's own sharp ax-kick. Rotating through the air, Katsuki showed off his costume's secret weapon. Reaching out to pull the trigger-pin on his left gauntlet, the blonde demonstrated why he'd had them molded in the shape of large grenades.

"Let's just see how you handle THIS!"

A powerful, long-range explosion was released that almost instantly ripped through the hallway; easily tearing apart the two walls and opening up the rooms on either side.

Izuku, seeing this, leaped at an angle towards such an opening as he watched the compacted shot race towards him. The tremendous heat of the attack easily tore through the black-clad teen's sleeveless hoodie, leaving it in tatters, but surprisingly the young man's bodysuit managed to come away with nothing but a number of small singes along his right side. Rolling into a crouched position, Izuku gave swift retaliation through the use of his throwing disks. The pair of projectiles whizzed through the air with lightning-like speed, but only one hit its mark; the other being ducked.

However that one seemed to have been enough, because Bakugou found himself once more doubled over in pain; this time clutching at his sternum, where the second disk had smacked dead center.

Deciding not to take the time to recall his gadgets just yet, Izuku instead took advantage of his opponent's disorganized state and tried again for his sleeper hold. This time proved even more futile however, as Bakugou was now able to see him coming, and the blonde lashed out with a ferocious kick. "You really think I'm gonna make it that damn easy Deku!?"

Amazed at Katsuki's ability to stay so focused in spite of injury Izuku blocked the kick with his forearm and went to slam his elbow into the other boy's knee.

The force of Bakugou's next explosive burst stopped this attempt cold though, and instead had the dark-haired teen throwing up his arms in a cross-block. The power of his blonde opponent's attack was still enough to lift the quirkless teen off his feet though, and Bakugou used this to his advantage by grabbing hold of the other boy's ankles and whipping him around before moving to now slam _him_ into the ground.

It was here that Izuku recalled one of his disks, and with a grunt of effort shot the sleek missile straight at his captor's own masked face. With Bakugou so engrossed in trying to pay back his rival the blonde had no time to try and dodge the projectile, and with a sickening _'crunch'_ , he was forced to let Izuku go so as to clutch at his now broken nose as he howled in pain.

Blood now pouring from his nose and his eyes watering with tears Katsuki managed to watch through blurry eyes as Izuku quickly righted himself in mid-air and then landed on his feet.

Seeing the once pathetic boy he'd dubbed as 'Deku' perform such a complex maneuver only added fuel to the raging fire that was Bakugou's rage. Where had a talent-less _loser_ like Izuku Midoriya gotten such tremendous skill!? And why was he so much harder to put down than before!?

 _'No, he's not better.'_ Katsuki told himself as he shot a snot rocket of blood from his nose. _'I've just been going easy on the little puke.'_ Reaching up with his right hand, the blonde grit his teeth before taking hold of his nose and forcing it back into place.

His hands popping with small explosions Bakugou called out to his tattered foe. "I hope you enjoyed our little warm up Deku; because now I'm gonna put an end to this fight, _and_ your pathetic dream of being a Pro by showing you just how outclassed you really are!"

Izuku, his masked eyes offering nothing but a look of pure indifference, simply scoffed. "Warm up? I've hardly even gotten started _Ka-chan_ ; face it, despite your fancy quirk I've outgrown you. Now, you're nothing but another practice dummy."

Rage. Fury. Madness. Whatever you choose to call it, an emotion the likes of which he'd never known flooded Bakugou's body at those words. Who the _hell_ did Izuku Midoriya think he was talking to!?

"Practice? I'll show you to mock me you PATHETIC! FUCKING! NERD!"

Every muscle in Katsuki's body rippled with raw, primal power as he thrust his hands back, and used his quirk to launch himself into the air. Coming down fast, the blonde aimed and lightly pulled the pin-trigger on his gauntlet a second time. The resulting blast shot out quick, and at such a range Bakugou knew his former friend would be hard-pressed to dodge it even with his amazing speed. And that's what he was counting on.

Just as he suspected Izuku managed to just barely leap out of the cannonball-sized bursts' path, but while still in the air Katsuki used his quirk to once again propel his body; this time straight at the airborne Izuku. Easily getting within reach Bakugou let loose another of his explosions...or at least he would have, had he not been knocked from the air by a streak of of darkness. The force of the blow, coupled with its' unexpected nature, sent the brash owner of the _'Explosion'_ quirk rocketing towards the floor. This time though, with all the kinetic energy swirling through the atmosphere, the young hero-in-training left behind a large spiderweb crack in the flooring as he smashed down.

On his side of things Izuku was just now being brought down by gravity when Fumikage stepped out of the shadows. Turning to look at his partner Izuku offered a swift nod of appreciation as he voiced his gratitude. "If I were being honest I'd have to say that I forgot all about the exercise in the midst of our battle; for that I apologize. However I do thank you for coming to my aid, as I'd rather not have wanted to show off anymore of my tricks than I already have."

"The fact you acknowledge your mistake is enough for me at the moment; however if we are to ever be partnered again, by choice or otherwise, I'll need to ask that you not lose sight of the objective again. Now, seeing as our hot-headed friend over there looks to be out cold, I'd say we move on to taking care of Tenya Iida and finishing this. That is, if you believe yourself able?"

Izuku knew what his partner meant by such a question and only offered a nod in affirmative to the other boy's musings. "Don't worry, I'll be fine; on both ends."

"I hope so; although I think we need to have a talk about your plan for dealing with Tenya." Was Fumikage's response.

 _ **xXx**_

Back in the observation deck Class 1-A looked upon the monitors with nothing but pure awe as they watched Fumikage, and a battered Izuku, leave an unconscious Bakugou handcuffed on the floor. With those on him, the blonde was officially considered 'captured' and could no longer actively participate in practice session even if he woke up before it was over.

And yet, even though this scene played out right before their eyes, none could believe it.

Izuku Midoriya, placed 16th in class, had just defeated Katsuki Bakugou; the number 2 student under Shoto Todoroki.

However while her classmates around her were either murmuring to themselves or downright bellowing out in disbelief, Asui Tsuyu was looking up at the display screens with a look of apprehension. One that did not go unnoticed by the brunette beside her.

"Hey, what's the matter Tsu? Izuku just took down _Bakugou_ of all people; shouldn't you be a little more...smiley?"

Never bothering to take her eyes off the screen the frog-like girls gave her reply. "Technically it was Fumikage's Dark Shadow who knocked Katsuki Bakugou unconscious; thereby giving the victory to Tokoyami. But even still, that's not the problem Ochako."

The pink-cheeked girl being addressed could only move her expressive, chocolate-brown eyes between the monitors broadcasting her friend's continued testing and her other friend who's face was set in a pensive expression. Unable to understand just what this 'problem' was, Ochako decided to ask.

"Then...what _is_ the problem?"

"The problem, Ochako, is Izuku. The person I just saw up there, battling Bakugou a moment ago, that wasn't the same Izuku Midoriya I met during the entrance exams. I couldn't see his face because of his costume, or his eyes because of the mask, but the way he moved...the way he _spoke_. I-I don't know who that was up there, but it was _not_ Izuku."

Ochako listened to her friend's words and tried to understand her meaning, but the petite _'Zero-Gravity'_ user found herself coming up short. Sure, Izuku had been more serious than what she'd normally seen, but wasn't that normal for people when they went into battle? Surely Tsu was reading too much into things.

Not willing to tell the girl this herself though, Ochako just offered a somber shrug of her shoulders and replied, "I can't really say one way or the other Tsu. B-But now that you bring it up I'll be sure to pay closer attention now; if something _is_ wrong we'll talk to him together, right?"

Tsu only offered a nod and a hum in response.

What neither girl knew however was that there were two other people listening in on their hushed conversation. Up closer to the controls stood All Might, his face settled into a thoughtful furrow as he listened to the two girls behind him, with his thoughts swirling around the enigma that seemed to be Izuku Midoriya. The other eavesdropper stood closer to the middle of the pack, and carried himself in a far looser stance; however, if you were to check his pockets you'd find fingers flexing in a show of restlessness.

Shoto Todoroki's mismatched eyes peered up at the screen that now held an image of Izuku Midoriya climbing into the air vent of a room a few doors down from where Tenya Iida was guarding his fake nuclear bomb. As he watched the tattered boy vanish into the duct, Shoto couldn't help but marvel at the way Izuku seemed to come up with such an unconventional way to gain victory; as climbing through the vent was a strategy he himself never would have thought of.

 _'And then there was his fight with Katsuki Bakugou.'_ The scarred teen recalled. _'The speed of his movements, and the way he reacted so swiftly to whatever Bakugou threw at him...it was unlike anything I'd ever thought a normal person capable of. And then on top of that he tells both his opponent as well Tokoyami that he hadn't even been going all out_. _I can't help but wonder, Izuku Midoriya, just how much stronger are you?'_

As the rest of their class was busy tittering about their victory over Bakugou, or silently contemplating the mystery that was Izuku, both teens had separated to begin the final phase of their plan.

Up in the vent system Izuku moved as quietly as he could, pulling himself along mostly through the strength of his elbows as he attempted to keep his legs still. And although his body still ached terribly from taking on Katsuki's explosions, the masked youth couldn't help the victorious grin that stretched out under his mouthpiece. While Fumikage had technically come to his aid, Izuku allowed the knowledge that he had been ready for his opponent's next attack saturate his every nerve; he had been so close to finally, truly beating Katsuki that he could feel it in his bones. And that knowledge was more than enough to fuel him forward.

With only Tenya left to stand between him and victory, Izuku could hardly keep himself from shivering with excitement.

 _'Is this it? Is this what it's going to feel like every time I overcome someone with a quirk; if it is, I could definitely get used to it.'_ The quirkless hero-in-training thought rapidly to himself, having to swallow down the rush of adrenaline he suddenly felt lest he let loose a cry of excitement. It wouldn't do to alert Tenya before he was ready.

Thinking of his plan allowed Izuku to realize that he could now hear both his target, as well as his team-mate, speaking to one another. Good, that meant Fumikage was keeping him distracted.

Through the grate of the duct he'd crawled to Izuku could see, and hear, the sounds of battle as his partner attempted to fend off Tenya's high-speed movements. Because the room All Might chose had a large window in it Izuku knew that Dark Shadow had to be weaker than normal due to the light filtering in, he only hoped his plan worked; otherwise he'd be left wide open against his much faster opponent.

 _'All I need to do now is wait.'_ Izuku thought as he listened, and watched with the help of his sonar lenses.

Down below Fumikage was having a rough go of it as he attempted to keep to the more shaded areas of the room, all the while without giving away his secret to Tenya. Informing Izuku had only been done as a calculated risk since the other boy was to be his partner for the mock-battle.

As Tenya came at him from the right again Fumikage was forced to pull his mind from thoughts of blowing his secret, and settle them into trying to angle his opponent in just the right spot for Izuku's plan to work.

 _'We're only gonna get one shot at this.'_ The feather-headed hero-in-training thought with a growl. That growl turned into a cry of pain however when Tenya's knee found his sternum; his lack of concentration costing him. Dark Shadow was quick to retaliate though, and the armored scholar was soon being pushed back by a blunt strike to a hastily thrown guard. Not willing to let their adversary gain any distance to use his quirk again, the shadow entity raced after Tenya and swerved around him to land a satisfying blow to the teen's lower back.

In the enclosed space Fumikage knew he had a bit of an edge so long as he kept his classmate close, but Tenya wasn't making it easy as he constantly found ways to put distance between them through use of obscure dodging techniques. One minute Fumikage would think the other boy was rushing him from first gear, only to have the armor-clad figure somersault over and thrust himself to a further point in the room. Knowing their time was limited, the cloaked shadow user decided on one last gamble. It strayed from the plan he'd revised with Izuku before, but there just didn't seem to be any way to enact it. So instead, the cloaked youth decided on another plan.

The next time Tenya tensed himself up to launch another attack Fumikage was ready for him. The lithe _'Dark Shadow'_ user was already mid-stride when his foe came for him, and managed to dodge the _'Engine'_ user's mid-air roundhouse kick by just enough that he still felt the air slicing above his head.

But it was enough.

"Got you!" Fumikage cried in triumph as his dark partner surfaced to grab a hold of their opponent's limbs. In a flash, Dark Shadow had both Tenya's left arm and right leg wrapped in his spectral grip. Turning to look over in the direction he hoped his partner to be in, the shadow user yelled, "Midoriya now; while I've got him, get to the objective!"

Hearing this Tenya startled. So Izuku and Bakugou hadn't knocked each other out? This bit of knowledge, coupled with the sight of his opponent's partner dropping from one of the vent systems, sent a shot of desperate energy coursing through the bespectacled teen's entire body.

"No!" Tenya screamed in recklessness. "I won't let you win!"

Focusing his quirk, Tenya's exhaust pipes burst to life with a white hot flame. The force of this maneuver caused the anxious boy to break free from Dark Shadow's hold, and then rocket through the air in an effort to stop Izuku from reaching the fake bomb.

For Fumikage it was instant, his shadow companion barely having any time to even attempt putting up a fight, but the sheer power behind Tenya's last ditch effort was more than enough to knock the cloaked boy to the floor.

On Izuku's end it seemed to happen in slow motion. One minute Fumikage had a hold on Tenya and he was moving towards victory...the next his world was nothing but blinding _pain_ as a punch rocked his entire body. Only the fact that he'd been wearing his heavy-duty mouthpiece ensured that his jaw would only be sore, with a hairline fracture at best.

But the damage had been done, and try as he might to fight it, Izuku found himself steadily losing consciousness until all that was left was to pass out. His last thoughts being of his first true failure.

 _ **xXx**_

 _ **A/N: I have to say, this was a hard chapter to get through. I personally enjoyed writing up Izuku's battle with Bakugou, but towards the end when I had to explain their encounter with Tenya I felt my imagination dimming considerably. I think it has to do with the fact that I needed to try and make it so Tenya's speed didn't just overwhelm Fumikage, and I tried to give a good reason for it, but all in all I wasn't personally happy with it.**_

 _ **I went back over the other three chapters and fixed the mistakes I made in terms of names and a line I had in chapter one that didn't make sense, so you'll see those replacements in your inbox unfortunately. However, since I'm posting them alongside a new chapter I hope you'll forgive me.**_

 _ **Now, in regards to Izuku's costume. This, like in the show, is only version 1 of his outfit; it will change. However, to help you visualize certain aspects of it the examples I can give you are:**_

 _ **'Robin/Nightwing's mask from Young Justice'**_

 _ **'Shredder's mouth plate from the 03 cartoon series'**_

 _ **The mouthpiece will be repaired and used again, and will become a staple of the uniform because of the versatility I intend to give it much like his mask.**_

 _ **I tried to play heavier into the quirk use that goes on in battles for My Hero, so please tell me your thoughts on how I did. Let me know where I need to improve, or what you think I did right already. Fight scenes are something I actually enjoy writing, so I really want to get better at them.**_

 _ **As for what Tsuyu mentions to Ochako after seeing him defeat Bakugou, I refer you to what is mentioned by Izuku in the show. There is a side of him that is influenced heavily by Bakugou, a side that he does not like about himself. Well, this is my version of that side. I try to express this by having Izuku mention that he'd become consumed by his battle with Bakugou, to the point that he'd forgotten about the actual point of the practice exercise.**_

 _ **This will be a reoccurring thing throughout the story, this darker Izuku, so I hope you all don't find it too boring or cliché.**_

 _ **Oh, and no I did not cut anyone from the class. This was done purely because I didn't feel like readjusting the story to fit the uneven number or bringing in someone else from a different class. That may or may not change after the Sports Festival, but I'll have to think about it.**_

 _ **Anyway, I can't really think of anything else to say here. So I'll just leave the chapter with hopes you'll all enjoy it, and the question of whether or not Izuku really lost the challenge.**_


End file.
